An Optimistic Alternative
by She-bop
Summary: LokixOC; alternate timeline where Thor is not banished and the treaty with Jotunheim is salvaged at the cost of expediting the plans for Loki's future; rated M for some adult content in early chapters and for steamy scenes in later chapters
1. Betrothal

Alternate timeline where Thor hadn't been banished, so life in Asgard proceeded normally with Loki unaware of his true parentage.

Thor approached his brother's chambers warily. Already he could hear Loki yelling and throwing things. It was not like him to lose his temper, especially so violently. When a servant came rushing out of the younger prince's large chamber, followed shortly by a once full serving platter sailing out the doorway and clanging loudly against the other wall, Thor's pace quickened. He helped the servant to his feet and went inside, closing the door so that the frightened man could clean up the mess in peace.

"Brother, I realize you are upset, but it is not appropriate to take your frustration out on your servants. They have done you no wrong," Thor advised.

"Who are you to tell me what is appropriate? It is not your future that has been so wretchedly lain out for you. _You _get to be king. _You _will marry a suitably respectable woman!" he raved.

Thor sighed. "I suppose it is best to get your frustration out now before she arrives."

Loki seethed. "This cannot be happening." He'd been wracking his brain for hours trying to find some kind of solution to the predicament he'd been put in, but had found none. "I would blame you for this, your recklessness in going to Jotunheim like you did and dragging the rest of us along, but Mother informed me that only hastened the inevitable," he muttered.

Thor gave a sympathetic wince. "They should have told you sooner about the arrangement. It would have given you time to prepare."

The dark-haired prince scoffed. "I would have tried to destroy that horrid realm myself long ago if I knew this was my fate."

"Do you know if you are to live here or if you are you going to have to live with her?" Thor asked anxiously.

"I will continue to live here. That is one thing I insisted on. I will still have to pay visits to her family, but otherwise, our time will be spent here. I would sooner kill myself than live that in forsaken waste with those savages," he replied with bitter arrogance.

Thor considered what it was going to be like to not only have a frost giant living in their midst but to actually be related to one. "I didn't even know they had females among them," he half-joked.

Loki groaned. "I know. They are all so hideous that it would be difficult to discern which ones are supposed to be which."

"It is for the sake of peace. Better a bitter marriage than a bitter war," he quoted their father.

"I agreed with that right up until it was my wedding we were talking about," he muttered.

"It will be a grand affair," Thor tried to encourage. "You will receive countless gives, many of them priceless artifacts, and no one will expect you to truly care for her."

Loki gave a wry little laugh. "Perhaps those distractions will suffice for a time. The difficult thing then will be to not murder her in her sleep."

The idea of them sharing a bed made a thought occur to Thor, one that made his stomach turn and his expression darken.

"What?" Loki prompted.

"You don't suppose...you'll be expected to make children with her?" he asked grimly.

Loki paled and he nearly vomited "No, There's no way. AEsir and frost giants can't breed," he muttered before storming out of the room.

"Loki! Where are you going?" Thor called after him.

"To speak with Father. I may have to stand with her at a marriage ceremony, but there is no way I'm consummating with some frozen barbarian wench," he spat as he stormed toward the great all.

He entered without warning, though that in itself wasn't surprising.

"Have you started to come to terms with you arrangement?" Odin asked even though it was clear that his younger son was still very upset.

Loki glared. "I just wanted to inform you that you may be able to force me into marrying a frost giant, but there is no way that matrimony will be consummated. You will have to rely on Thor for your grandchildren because there is no way I'm even going to chance that a child could come from such an unholy union," he nearly shouted.

Odin stood, nodded to his wife, and said, "Loki, follow me." Without so much as another glance at his son, he led the younger prince out of the throne room.

The dark-haired young man started to sweat a bit. His father never acted like this except when it was really important. They were halfway to the vault when he finally gathered his thoughts well enough to match step with the Allfather.

"I realize that this arrangement is politically important," he began in his best diplomatic voice.

"It is that among other things," Odin enigmatically replied.

"What else is it?" Loki asked anxiously. He had never wanted to let down his father, and even though the situation he had been placed in was unpleasant, if it was really that important, he would swallow his pride and do it.

Odin didn't say anything else until they were in the vault and the guards were dismissed. "When you went to Jotunheim, did anything unusual happen?" he asked knowingly.

Loki felt a bit sick again. "Wh-What do you mean?"

"I think you know what I mean. You made physical contact with a frost giant during Thor's skirmish, did you not?" he elaborated.

The son looked away in shame. "I-I did. One of them, they grabbed my arm," he barely answered.

"Pick up the Casket of Ancient Winters," Odin ordered.

"But Father-" he was about to protest about how it would freeze his skin, as he and his brother had been warned about since as early as they could remember, but the look he received in return cut him off immediately.

With trembling hands, Loki grasped either side of the ancient casket and lifted it several inches from its pedestal. He didn't have to look at himself to know the had undergone some kind of change. His clothes felt hot and cumbersome, and he was more sensitive to the light. When he was finally able to look at his hands and arms, he almost threw the casket down in a rage. His skin had turned blue and gained intricate lined patterns.

"Am I cursed?" he muttered, noticing that as he did, his breath turned to steam in the air before him.

"No, enchanted. Set down the casket," Odin ordered because he could see how badly his son wanted to let go of it.

He did as he was told, and seconds later, his appearance was restored to normal. "What's happened to me?"

"Loki, first and foremost, you must remember that you always have been and will always be my beloved son," the Allfather began.

"But?" Loki prompted bitterly.

"You are not of Asgard," he simply said.

Loki's mind raced. "The casket wasn't the only thing you took from Jotunheim that day, was it?"

Odin nodded.

"You took me for a purpose that day, what was it?" Loki demanded.

Odin didn't answer.

"Tell me!" Loki shouted, his voice echoing around the vault.

"We can unite the kingdoms through you," he finally said.

"So I am no more than a stolen relic, locked up here until you might have use of me," Loki angrily asserted.

Odin appeared wounded. "Why do you twist my words?"

Loki sneered. "You could have told me what I was from the beginning. Why didn't you?"

"You are my son. My blood. I wanted only to protect you from the truth," he tried, though he knew it wouldn't really ease the young man.

"Because I'm the monster parents tell their children about at night? And now I am betrothed to another monster, and what? We will make monstrous grandbabies for you?" Loki raved.

"Don't-" Odin began but he was cut off.

"You know, it all makes sense now, why you favored Thor all these years. Because no matter how much you claim to "love" me, you could never have a Frost Giant sitting on the Throne of Asgard!" Loki shouted, his face contorting with emotions that he has yet to understand.

Odin's body began to shake, he lifts his hand. It started to move out of sync temporarily, leaving a trail, the effect of the Odinsleep approaching. Loki didn't notice as Odin tried to fight it off.

"Listen," he bid his adopted son, but it does no good. Loki has turned his back to him.

Odin started towards him, when the enormous mental, emotional, and physical strain of recent events finally takes its toll. The effect of the Odinsleep consumed him. His entire body now moved out of sync with the rest of the world, leaving trails behind him as he staggers backwards. The King fell back against a wall, his face contorting in a scream before collapsing to the stone floor.

Loki hurried to his side, obviously shocked, took Odin in his arms, and shouted for the guards. The guards came and carried the Allfather to his bed, leaving Loki to sit in the vault and contemplate.

By the time Thor found him, he had made several decisions. He was of Asgard. He had known no different, and he would not allow himself to suffer the shame of being outed as an enemy living in their midst. Even those who he would dare to call friend only trusted him as much as they had to already. He dreaded to think of how little respect he would receive if his secret was discovered. He also decided that he would go through with the marriage, not that he had a choice, but he wouldn't make so much of a fuss about it anymore. However, he'd be damned if he was going to show her any affection, let alone procreate with his new wife. He had a hard enough time with Asgardian children and shuddered to think what it would be like to father a brood of barbaric little bastards.

"Brother," Thor greeted as he entered the vault.

Loki scoffed bitterly.

"Mother told me," he said plainly as he sat down on the steps.

Loki glared. "And you will tell no one."

Thor frowned. "As you wish."

They sat in silence for a long time after that until Loki spoke.

"How is Father," he said, trying not to it bitterly.

"The Odinsleep took him suddenly because he had put it off for so long. Otherwise, he is fine," Thor assured.

Loki nodded. At least the man he knew as his father was alright.

"May I see you?" the blonde brother asked cautiously.

If it has been anyone else, they would have been rebuked. Loki sighed as he stood. "Let us see if you still call me brother so easily after you see my true appearance," he said as he made his way to the casket.

All his life, Thor's blood boiled at the very thought of frost giants. They were the enemy of his father, and therefore his enemy. They were ugly and cruel creatures that should be slain without mercy. Now he was seeing these creatures in a brand new light. He would never admit it aloud but his brother was downright captivating with his lightly decorated blue skin. The only thing that made his heart skip a beat was his blood red eyes.

"I am disgusting," Loki said, his shoulders slumping with defeat as he set down the casket once again.

"I do not think that is the case, and I hope that in time you will realize this as well," Thor said surely. "Now, come, pay your respects to Father. You know he is still aware of his surroundings when he sleeps."

Loki nodded and they left the vault. Once again, he sent the guards out. "Mother, I have questions," he said as plainly as he could.

"I wish your father could answer you, but I will do my best," she vowed.

"Under what circumstances was I taken? It was the middle of battle. Why should I have been spared?" he asked.

"You know your father has never approved of unnecessary bloodshed, especially when it is the blood of innocents. He found you abandoned, later learning that you were Laufey's youngest son. You were unusually small for a giant and would have died if he had not saved you," she answered.

Loki's expression soured. "I was told that the female that I am betrothed to is Laufey's daughter."

"Truth be told, Laufey has no surviving daughters. She was adopted for the sake of this arrangement and has no blood ties to you," she assured.

"Does she know what I really am?" he pressed.

"Not as far as I am aware," she replied.

"Have you met her before?" he continued to question.

"Once, when she was much younger, when the arrangement was made. Laufey presented her for our approval. As far as I could tell, she was at least moderately fair for one of her kind," she tried to sound optimistic.

"I care not for the fairness of monsters," Loki spat.

Frigga drew herself up. "I will have no more talk like that."

The brothers nodded obediently.

"Good. Now, her name is Myrkr, and we will send for her upon your father's waking. Loki, if you have opinions about the ceremony or the feast that will follow, then you need to made them known now," she advised.

"Yes, Mother," he reluctantly agreed.

They stayed a short while after that before going their separate ways.


	2. The Words of Women

The arrangements were made with Loki overseeing them because it was his reputation on the line. It was tedious and a bit annoying at times, but what bothered him most was the near constant condolences from everyone he talked to about the wedding. They kept saying how honorable it was for him to marry a frost giant for the sake of peace between their kingdoms and how they weren't sure if they would be able to make such a sacrifice. More than anything, though, it was tiresome, and he was starting to look forward to having it be over. He longed for a sense of normalcy.

Loki made another quarter turn in front of his three full length mirrors, straightening this and that, pushing his hair around, until he had a visitor.

"Enter," he called when there was a polite knocking at his door.

For once, he was pleased to see Fandral. "You look very nice," he said immediately.

"Naturally," Loki dismissed with a sardonic little smile.

"Putting in a lot of effort for someone who's probably never seen proper dress attire before," he joked.

Loki scowled. "This isn't for her. I am required to present myself in the highest fashion for the sake of the kingdom. There will be a huge crowd and while the...individual," he hesitated to keep from saying something nasty, "I will be standing with likely has never been properly dressed in her life, I will be held to the highest standard."

"Of course," Fandral replied, feeling a bit defeated. He had hoped to lighten the prince's spirits a bit before he had to face the public, but no such luck. "Everything is ready whenever you are."

Loki scoffed. "As if anyone could truly prepare for what is ahead of me. Regardless," he sighed. "I cannot be more ready that I am right now. Let us go meet my barbarian princess."

There was fanfare and cheering as the royal family of Asgard stood at the top of the steps leading into the castle watching the small parade of Frost Giants approach. Apprehension could be seen on the faces closest to the street, but by and large the people of Asgard put on a good show of being happy to see the newest addition to their society if for no other reason that the hope of peace.

"You must look at her," Frigga scolded under her breath as Laufey and Myrkr ascended the steps.

He pursed his lips to keep from frowning too deeply and did as he was told. The sight of her made his stomach turn. She was small for a frost giant, though he had never seen a female of their kind before, standing only a few inches shorter than he, with long black hair ornately tied back with countless jewels and gold chains. Her red eyes stayed downcast as her bare feet climbed the marble stairs. Her figure was thin but not without womanly shape, which could be easily seen in what little clothes she wore. He would have found her comely if he didn't hate her so much already.

Once at the top of the stairs, Laufey announced, "Odin, Allfather of Asgard, I present to your son Loki my daughter Myrkr for marriage in accordance with our treaty. It is my sincere hope that this union will be the catalyst for a long-lasting peace between our realms."

Odin forced a wide smile. "Laufey, King of Jotunheim, we gladly accept your most gracious offering," he said, then turned to the crowd. "The ceremony will be in three days time. Prepare yourselves accordingly."

The crowd made a sound of agreement, the fanfare sounded gain, and the group at the top of the steps went inside to escape the commotion.

Myrkr followed a respectful distance behind her king, her eyes perpetually downcast until Frigga called her by name.

"Lady Myrkr, this must all be very overwhelming for you," Frigga said in a motherly way.

The female frost giant started a little at being called 'Lady'. "Indeed it is my Queen," she said in a soft voice.

Laufey glared at her but said nothing.

"Then, please, come with me. My handmaidens will attend to you while we discuss the ceremony," Frigga said.

Odin couldn't help smiling at how easy this was for his wife. He was very pleased that she could set such a good example of extending the olive branch.

Myrkr shot a nervous glance at Laufey, who gave her a meaningful look in return. She swallowed hard and looked back down at the ground. "May I address Prince Loki directly or would it be inappropriate at this time?" she asked, trying to make her voice sound surer than she felt.

"Of course you may," Odin said confidently.

Myrkr took a couple of steps toward her husband to be, finally raising her gaze to look at him, her skin darkening as she did. "My Lord, I hope that we may find reasons to smile together, and I genuinely look forward to being your wife," she told him, a slight titter in her voice.

Loki forced a small smile. "It will be a glorious ceremony," was all he could manage without sounding too rude.

With that, she bowed her head again and left with Frigga.

"Are you okay? I understand if our climate is taxing for you. Perhaps you would like to sit and rest a bit before we continue?" the queen asked as she led the younger woman to her temporary living quarters.

"It is rather warm here," Myrkr answered with a little laugh. "And I am very nervous. I was not supposed to say those things to your son. I hope everyone can forgive me."

Frigga laughed. "You spoke beautifully. There is nothing to worry about," she assured. "Now, we were not made aware of your preferences so, we have water, several varieties of fruit juice, wine, and mead. You are going to have to tell us what you like, at least for the first while."

The frost giant appeared intimidated by the idea of sharing her preferences. "Water is fine for now, thank you."

They began discussing the itinerary for the next couple of days, when suddenly Myrkr burst into tears.

"What's the matter, my dear?" Frigga asked. In spite of her good show, she too had her conceptions of frost giants, and this sort of behavior was not included in that list. It took her aback, and she wasn't quite sure what to do.

Myrkr's wide, red eyes looked up at the woman who would soon be her mother-in-law. "Thank you. Thank you so much. We have only spent a handful of hours together, but you have already shown me more decency than anyone before." Then she looked a bit sheepish. "I'm sorry. I've studied your culture extensively in order to be the best wife for your son that I could possibly be, and I know that such outpourings of emotion are not-" she tried to cover but she was stopped suddenly when the queen pulled her in for a warm, welcoming hug.

"You are most welcome, and you will want for nothing here. You will be treated like the princess that you are, and no one will look down on you ever again," Frigga assured.

As she untangled herself from the embrace, because although it was comforting, it was not something she was used to, she wiped the tears from her eyes. "What do you think Prince Loki thinks of me?" she asked hesitantly. "We only met for a short time, hardly enough to make a good first impression."

Frigga sighed. "You will have to forgive my son. He has some misgivings about marrying a stranger from another land, but he is a smart young man. Give him some time, he will learn to see your beauty."

That made Myrkr smile. "Thank you. You are generous and kind, and I look forward to being part of your family." As short while later, she was taken by a group of servants to be measured for her Asgardian wardrobe.

They all met up again for dinner that evening, which had Myrkr seated next to Loki, which pleased her greatly. Something that eased her anxiety was that Laufey, having done the absolute minimum required of him, left shortly after she was taken away by Frigga. She spent the majority of the meal with her eyes down on her plate, except for when people were speaking to her. Then she made a point to at least make brief eye contact with them.

"How do you like Asgard so far?" Odin asked, his tone speaking of fatherly concern.

She gave a nervous little laugh, her eyes flicking up to look at the large man's one-eyed face. "It is very warm here," she managed, making everyone but Loki laugh.

"Did you see your gown?" Frigga asked hopefully.

Myrkr's skin darkened. "Yes. It is very beautiful. I am fortunate that you deem me worthy to wear such beautiful clothes," she managed.

Loki tried not to scoff.

"If it is alright with you," Frigga continued, "I was thinking we could work some of your Jotun jewels into your ensembles."

"I think that would only serve to further alienate her," Loki said without looking at the woman at his side.

"It would serve to illustrate that she is now of both cultures," Thor contested when he saw how uncomfortable Loki's assessment made Myrkr.

Odin considered both sides. "A small amount of Jotun jewelry would be sufficient." He gave the woman sitting a few places down from him a funny little smile. "You wear so much of it that I don't think the people would recognize you without it," he teased.

Loki had a number of things that he thought to say in reply to that, each nastier than the last, which was why he was caught off guard when she said, "As you wish, my King, but I believe the hue of my skin gives me away more than any jewelry could. These things that I wear," she said as she began untangling a long gold chain ornamented with countless precious gems from her hair, "are a symbol of my worthiness as an offering to your family. They are only as necessary as you deem them to be," she told them as she set it on the table between her and Loki.

It was the most that any of them, save Frigga, had heard her speak. Her voice was soft, but not entirely without confidence. Odin and Thor were duly impressed and were more than willing to show it. Loki on the other hand, kept his impression of her display to himself until she turned to him.

"I will adorn myself in whichever ways are pleasing to you. I would be buried in clothes and veils or walk the aisle nude, covered in precious jewels or plain as a peasant if it was your wish," she told him as though she was never more sure of anything in her life, which made Loki a bit uncomfortable.

"So be it. You will wear a minimal reminder of your home," was all he said in return, now hardly able to look at her again. He could not fathom how she could be so devoted to him already unless it was just an act. Even if it wasn't real, he had to give her credit for such a flawless performance.

After dessert, which she didn't seem to care for, Myrkr was shown back to her quarters to rest, as the excitement of the day's events had decidedly taken a toll on her. Leaving their mother and father at the table to finish their wine and discuss their impressions of the young woman who had just shared their table, Loki and Thor took their goblets and did the same while walking the halls of the castle.

"In spite of her heritage, she seems quite nice," Thor said. Then he looked around to see if anyone was listening to them. Seeing no one, he added, "And she is unusually attractive for a frost giant."

Loki refused to address the second part of Thor's half-drunken attempts to make him feel better. "She has been groomed for this since she was very young. She seems nice because that is how she supposed to seem."

"Perhaps you spent too much time avoiding even looking at her," Thor chided. "Or you might have noticed the way she looks at you. I believe she is genuinely grateful to be here."

Loki made a dismissive sound.

"She had no more choice in this than you did. All things considered, you have the better end of the deal. You didn't have to move to a strange land full of people who question your integrity to marry someone who may or may not be kind to you regardless of how well you present yourself," Thor chided.

"No, I am the younger brother of a great house that has had some little wench thrown at his feet and was told to marry her. There is no way to know her true nature because she will always be acting out of self defense, as she should. I would be surprised if you could find even one person in all of Asgard who did not consider her an enemy," Loki petulantly contested.

"You don't have to search. I believe she is a victim of circumstance, just like you, and you would be wise to treat her better," Thor lectured.

"Easy for you to say. If you're so fond of her, perhaps Father could be persuaded to have us switch places," he bitterly retorted.

Thor gave his brother a pat on the shoulder. "If only it were that easy. I'm afraid that this is something that you have to do, and if nothing else, it would be easier if you were more optimistic."

The following day was largely uneventful. Myrkr was given a tour of the castle and shown where she and Loki would live together after the wedding. After that, she was shown around the capitol. She met a handful of high-ranking officials, but was not asked to speak more than general formalities required, though she quickly realized that was at Loki's order.

When the got in the carriage for the final time to return to the castle, she spoke to him. It was the first time she had dared to do so since at dinner the night before. "Thank you for keeping me from speaking to the people. I am not accustomed to such things and would likely make a foolish spectacle of myself," she told him earnestly.

Loki eyed her critically out of the corner of his eye. He appreciated that she was dressed more modestly than the last time he saw her. "Of that, I have no doubt," he condescendingly replied and was a bit disappointed when it didn't seem to phase her. They rode in silence until just as they arrived back at the castle. Then, he told her, "I will be sending one of my servants to speak with you this evening. This person is a confidante of mine and knows as much about me as anyone can. I keep no secrets from them and neither will you," he asserted. "You will answer whatever questions they have for you as truthfully as you would answer me. Do you understand?"

"Yes. I understand, my Lord," she said as she bowed her head.

He muttered something to the effect of 'at least she's not stupid' as he exited the carriage. He only offered his gloved hand to help her down the little steps that folded out from beneath the carriage because there were others watching them. He made her take his arm as he led her inside, then once he was sure there was no one but servants around, he let go of her and walked away without a word.

Myrkr stood in the place where he left her for a long time after that, partly because she didn't know what to do. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been left to her own devices. There was also a part of her that was trying to commit to memory the feeling of Loki's touch. He had been very careful not to make skin to skin contact with her, but even so, just that brief moment of contact made her feel more connected to him.

Just before someone could ask if she was okay or perhaps lost, she remembered Loki's directive and ran off to her chamber to prepare for her visitor.

"Myrkr!" Thor called when he saw her rush past.

She stopped dead in her tracks and nearly threw herself on the floor. She managed to keep from that by bowing deeply. "My Lord," she said breathlessly.

He laughed merrily. "Please, there is no need for that. We are nearly family. Call me Thor, at least when no one else is around," he urged.

"Yes, of course," she barely replied.

"Now, where are you going in such a hurry? Surely there is no reason for such a lovely lady to rush about," he half-teased.

She blushed at his compliment. "You flatter me," she said, though it was almost an incredulous question. "I am going back to my chambers."

Thor look around and then out the window. "But why were you running?"

She looked away. "Prince Loki is sending someone to speak with me on his behalf. I must be prepared."

He gave her an affectionate smile. "I see. Well, it wouldn't do to disappoint him, but it is unbecoming of your station to run around like that," he lightly chided.

"Yes, of course. I will remember next time," she promised.

"May I walk with you the rest of the way?" he offered.

"I would be honored," she replied.

"Did my brother say why he was sending someone else to speak with you? I don't know if you are aware, but he is quite adept at speaking for himself," he joked.

"He did not say. He only said that this was a person he kept no secrets from and that I should confide in them just the same," she reported. Then, she couldn't help blurting out. "Does your brother find me unbecoming?" To cover for that, she rambled on, "I would understand if he did. We are so different."

"Do you find him unbecoming?" Thor countered curiously.

"Is there a penalty for speaking ill of him?" she asked, her throat tightening.

"Not to me. I know his faults as well as his strengths," he assured.

She blushed deeply again. "He is magnificent, and I am very fortunate to be paired with him."

Thor laughed. "You have a surprising wit about you that, when my brother finally chooses to speak with you, he will most likely find very endearing."

The very thought made her heart race. "Thank you," she said with a slight bow and then entered her chambers.

After her lunch, there was a knock on her door. She almost got it herself but remembered herself and simply called for them to enter. The person who showed themselves in was a tall, beautiful, black-haired woman donning a fine green dress that accentuated her already generous figure as well as her piercing green eyes.

"H-Hello," Myrkr barely said as she saw in awe of the other woman, whose presence was nearly overwhelming, yet oddly familiar. "What can I do for you?"

The fair woman gave a placating smile. "I am here on behalf of your husband to be."

A jolt of anxiety shot through Myrkr. "Oh, yes, of course. I've been expecting you. Please, make yourself comfortable," she motioned to the countless overstuffed chairs and sofas that were arranged around her sitting room.

The woman took the seat adjacent to the soon-to-be princess, crossing her legs as she straightened her dress. "You have been instructed to speak honestly to me. If your lord finds that any of the things you say to me are untrue, he would not be pleased," she warned.

"Of course. I have nothing to hide from him or anyone," the Jotun woman assured.

The placating smile returned. "Very good. Now, how long have you known about your betrothal?"

"The treaty was signed when I was six, and I was chosen to be wife of Odinson shortly after," she replied.

"Are you of blood relation to Laufey?" she asked seriously.

She shook her head. "No. King Laufey has no surviving female offspring," she grimly replied. She expected that to lose her some points but apparently that was not the case.

"How were you chosen?" the woman continued to question.

Myrkr looked down at her hands as she tried to keep them still in her lap. "I do not possess the qualities that are generally prized among my own kind. I am not strong, and I have no desire to fight in battles. I would have likely not survived as long as I have if I didn't have an aptitude for the kind of learning that is required of someone who is in the position I am now. I was the only one with the interest and the patience to learn the ways of Asgard," she explained carefully.

The woman sitting nearby eyed her for a moment before asking her next set of questions. "How do you like Asgard now that you are here?"

Myrkr blushed. "The heat and humidity are something I was aware of but unprepared for. Otherwise, I very much like what I have seen and the people I have met."

"Even though not everyone has been pleased to meet you?" she prompted.

"I came here with the understanding that my people are still considered enemies. I would like to think that I could eventually win some of them over, show them that we are not as bad as we seem, but I accept their feelings may never change no matter what I do. Truly, there is only one person's opinion of me that really matters," she added softly.

"You mean Prince Loki?" she clarified.

"Of course," she answered.

"You hold him in very high regard," the fair woman asserted.

Myrkr smiled sheepishly. "I do," was all she could manage for a reply.

The woman nodded. "Now, you said you've been preparing for this since you were a child. You have been learning the customs, language, and history of Asgard," she began again.

"That is correct, though I'm sure that my knowledge is lacking. My instructors, if that's even the right word, we not very interested in painting a full picture," the Jotun woman replied apologetically, "but I did study the books gifted by the King and Queen extensively."

"I would not worry for those things if I were you. You seem to know enough to get by for now and if my impression of your interest in understanding the society you are now a part of is correct, you will learn the rest before too long," she assessed.

"Thank you. That means a lot. I confess, I live in fear of committing some kind of faux pas and embarrassing my new husband or his family," she earnestly replied.

That made the woman's smile take on a more genuine quality for half a second. "Were you also prepared to perform wifely duties?" she asked bluntly.

Myrkr's entire body darkened with embarrassment. "I was not. I am," she swallowed hard, "aware of the anatomy of Asgardian males, but that is all."

The woman frowned slightly. "Are you a virgin?" she curiously pressed.

The blue woman's expression turned from embarrassment to shame. "I am not." She continued in spite of the tears welling up in her eyes. "I am aware of how prized purity is in Asgard, and I was told over and over to lie and say that I had not been taken by anyone, but Prince Loki deserves to know all that I am."

The sudden outpouring of emotion took the fair woman off guard, though she did well not to show it. Rather she put on her best disinterested face and handed her a tissue. "You say you were taken, was it against your wishes?"

Myrkr couldn't even look up at her anymore. She sniffled and nodded her head as she tried to clean up her face. "You would be hard pressed to find someone of my size on Jotunheim that has not had a similar experience."

"Did it happen more than once?" she pressed.

Myrkr nodded again.

"Did they do this knowing that they were sullying a gift to a prince?" the woman asked bitterly.

"They did it not caring either way. Where I come from, it is considered my fault for not being able to fight them off," she explained. Then she forced herself to look up. "Will Prince Loki hate me even more because of this? Or is his dislike of me already so intense that it will make no difference?"

The foreign woman's pessimism was disheartening to say the least. "He will appreciate your honesty," she assured. "And you say you did try to fight them off?"

Myrkr nodded. "Sometimes I wish I hadn't, thinking that maybe it would have just been easier to lay back and take it. Fighting only hurt me more," she said as she lifted the right side of her dress, revealing three scars, obviously from angry scratches, that marred her hip and upper thigh. "But I couldn't help it. My instincts kicked in."

The fair woman nodded. "Should the prince chose to see you without your clothes, he would likely ask about your scars. You are right to explain these things now," she assured.

"Thank you," she barely replied. "So it is true that the residents of Asgard are not permitted to treat their lessers like that?"

The woman sitting near her took up a proud posture. "There are many texts in the library concerning counting rituals and social interactions of all kinds. I would encourage you to read them, but suffice to say that such barbaric behavior is not tolerated here. Should the prince choose to engage with you intimately, how would you react? You said your instinct is to fight," she pointed out.

"I would not fight him. One only fights the unwanted advances of entitled attackers," she clarified.

The woman nodded thoughtfully. "What if he chose to take a mistress, or several mistresses?" she proposed.

Myrkr frowned. "I would be disappointed, but I would understand. I was warned before coming here that Asgardians often find Jotun's unattractive." That was the nice way of putting it.

"And I have heard that the reverse can also be true, which leads me to my next question. I realize you have only known the prince for a short time, but what are your impressions of him?"

Myrkr couldn't help smiling. "He is stunning," she managed.

"Could you please elaborate?"

"I do not expect him to love me, right away or even at all, and I don't expect him to be kind to me except when etiquette requires. He seems unhappy with our arrangement, and that is disappointing to me, but his feelings are understandable. There are many beautiful women here who would likely make good partners for him, and yet he is stuck with me. I, on the other hand, am fortunate. Even if he is cruel to me, that is only one person who is cruel. Everyone else, save perhaps the rest of his family, will have to leave me be. He gives me so much without even trying, and I only hope that I can repay a fraction of that in the time that we are together."

"You are rather pragmatic," she noted.

"I would not have lived as long as I have without some sense of realism. So, please, believe me when I say that Prince Loki is beautiful and charming. I admire his grace and his wit."

"It sounds as though you love him," she informed coolly.

"I am finding it difficult not to be enamored by him. I think he expects me to be put off by his coolness toward me, like I don't come from a world made of ice," she half-joked.

"What would you do to earn his favor?"

"Just about anything," she shrugged, "short of causing needless harm to others."

The woman made a thoughtful sound. "The Prince has a secret, something that only his mother, father, and brother know. Since you are to be his wife, he will likely share it with you as well, granted that you can keep his secret as well."

"I would sooner never speak again than betray his trust," she vowed.

"I gathered as much," she dismissed.

Then, Myrkr blurted out, "Is it true that he's a powerful sorcerer?" It had been on her mind for as long as she could remember, but only now did she have someone who was worth asking.

The woman gave an arrogant grin. "Does it matter?"

Myrkr faltered. "N-No, of course not."

"Then why ask?" she pressed.

"Perhaps I am being presumptuous, but I would like to know at least a little about my husband to be," she tried to hedge without sounding defensive because in spite of her nervousness, she really did want to know. "He wants to know what to expect of me. Is it unfair that I would like the same of him, at least to some small degree?"

The woman's grin didn't waver. "Prince Loki knows a thing or two about sorcery, and if you earn his favor, perhaps he will show you. Speaking of magic, were you aware that Odin could change your appearance so that you would look Asgardian?"

"Um, no I wasn't aware of that," Myrkr replied, obviously impressed.

"Is that something you would consider?" she asked.

The Jotun woman thought for a moment. "Would the change be permanent?"

"Your Jotun appearance would surface whenever you made contact with something from your homeworld. Otherwise, it would remain Asgardian," she explained.

"I would rather not," Myrkr said as firmly as she could.

"What if Price Loki would prefer you that way?" she pressed.

She looked down at her lap again. "I do not wish to disappoint Prince Loki, but the reason for our marriage is the unite our peoples. My very obviously different outward appearance is a reminder to all that there is peace between us. Should the Prince like to have my looks occasionally altered, I would entertain the idea for his sake, but I must remain as I am if the message of our union is to be understood. If I changed, if I assimilated that fully, then that would send the wrong message. I hope that doesn't offend him," she retracted weakly.

"No, of course not. You are very well spoken, and you are correct in your analysis of the situation. Now, one last thing before I leave to allow you time to prepare for dinner."

Myrkr looked up hopefully.

"Take off everything you are wearing. I wish to see you as you are," she commanded.

"Is that really necessary?" she weakly countered.

"Yes," she sternly replied. "Under normal circumstances, you would have your own handmaidens to help you tend to these sorts of things. If you would prefer, I could call for one of the Queen's, but it is advisable to have another woman, one who is honest and understands the ways of men, to look you over."

Myrkr nodded and stood. "You are already here. No need to call someone else." She started with her jewelry, carefully laying it out on the end table before removing her dress. When she struggled with the ties at her hips, she turned to the other woman, "Would you mind helping me with these. I am still unaccustomed to Asgardian garments."

The woman gave an odd little smirk. "Of course."

Moments later, her dress was sitting in a pool at her feet. She found it difficult not to try to cover herself, especially when the other woman started making a slow circle around her. Once the woman made her way back to her front, she said, "Well?"

"Aside from the scaring, everything seems fine, though..." she tailed off as her gaze lowered. "Not that this is a problem, but I couldn't help noticing, you have shy nipples."

"I have what?" she asked incredulously.

The woman cocked an eyebrow and looked back up at the blue woman's face. "It is a polite way of saying that your nipples are inverted," she said plainly.

Myrkr looked confused.

"Is that common on Jotunheim?" she pressed curiously, her fingers reaching up but never quite touching the other woman's breasts.

"I have seen no other way. Are yours different?" she asked curiously.

The woman smirked. "Would you like to see?"

Myrkr took a step back. "I-I would never presume-" she stammered.

"You presume nothing if it is my offer," the woman dismissed as she carefully untied the laces of her bodice well enough to pull it down on one side, revealing her full, round breast complete with puffy, perky nipple."

The Jotun woman just stared, then giggled.

The woman frowned. "Do you think this is funny?"

"Oh, no of course not," she said, still with a little titter of laughter in her voice.

"Then why are you laughing?" she practically demanded as she covered and redressed herself properly.

"I'm sorry. It's just that, it is so much warmer here. If mine stuck out like that on Jotunheim, they would likely freeze off," she half-joked.

That made the woman laugh a little as well. "I see. I suppose that's true. Either way, you may redress now. It is nearly time for dinner."

"Yes, of course," Myrkr nodded and started to pull her dress up.

"Thank you for your time," the woman said as she turned to leave.

"Thank you," the Jotun woman called just before the door shut.

That night at dinner, Myrkr couldn't help staring at Loki. After her talk with his handmaiden, she couldn't help wondering what was said about her. What secrets did she give away without even trying. It was said that Loki was a master of reading into what people said as well as their body language, and if he sent someone to speak with her like that, it stood to reason that she had a similar aptitude.

Her staring did not go unnoticed either, not that she was trying to hide it. His mother, father, and brother all took note of her open fascination with him. Frigga even noticed there were a couple of times when Myrkr looked like she was about to reach out and touch her son, even just brush her fingers across his hand, but never quite managing it.

As with their previous meal, Myrkr enjoyed the food, except perhaps the dessert. There was just something about the overly sweet, decadent nature of the after dinner treat that did not appeal to her. Just the same, she gave it an honest try, even if she couldn't make herself finish it. Then, when the King dismissed everyone but his wife, Thor and Loki went to leave together. Myrkr hesitantly followed them.

Once they were out of earshot of their parents, Loki turned to her. "Is there something I can do for you?" he asked as neutrally as he could.

She faltered. "Um, well," she stammered for a moment. "I just wanted to thank you for sending your lady to speak with me."

"You are welcome, though it was not for your benefit," he dismissively replied.

"Yes, of course," she said, bowing her head a little. "I am just grateful that you have some interest in me, even if it is only a morbid or passing interest," she retracted.

Loki almost smiled. "If nothing else, you are novel," he mused condescendingly. "You should go to bed early. There is much to do tomorrow."

"Yes, my Lord," she said and left them be.

Thor eyed his brother for a moment, then once he was sure she was gone, he said. "You have a lady?"

Loki smirked. "In a manner of speaking," he vaguely replied.

The blonde brother thought about that for a second. "You changed your form to speak with her," he half-accused.

"Would I do something like that?" he coyly replied.

"What did you speak with her about?" the older brother asked curiously.

Loki shrugged. "I just wanted a better impression of her."

"Couldn't you have interviewed her as yourself?" he pressed.

The younger brother considered his next words very carefully. "I could have, but it wouldn't have been the same. Women don't speak to men the way they speak to other women."

"It seems very...dishonest," Thor managed.

"If she's really clever, she'll figure out it was me all along," he shrugged again.

Thor didn't usually approve of Loki's approaches to getting to know people, but he had to admit that his brother did usually understand others better than he did. "What did you learn about her?"

"That in spite of the looks she was giving me over dinner, our union might not be as unpleasant as I'd originally estimated," he assessed.

"How so?" the blonde pressed curiously.

"She has a certain pragmatism that I appreciate. She understands her role and intends to serve her purpose to the best of her ability," he practically bragged.

Thor frowned. "I suppose I should be pleased that at least you accept the positive political applications of your marriage."

"What else should you expect? You think that after an hour of speaking to a stranger that I could love her?" Loki scoffed. They had made it back to Thor's chamber by this point, so he felt a little more comfortable being adversarial and even raise his voice a bit.

The older brother made a sound of frustration as he poured himself a horn of mead. "I don't expect you to love someone you've just met, but I think it would be easier on everyone if you didn't automatically rule out the possibility that you might like her."

"I would never make such judgment automatically. If nothing else, I am more prudent than that. She has been well prepared, she speaks carefully...most of the time, and she actually has a rather interesting sense of humor. Can you believe she actually made me laugh?" he informed haughtily.

"Then you should be more friendly to her," Thor advised.

"Perhaps in time," Loki conceded and then took his leave. He had much thinking to do, and their rehearsal was the following afternoon.


	3. The Big Day

The following day was filled with much activity. Myrkr was once again fitted for her dress, just in case there had been any mistakes. The queen spent the better part of the morning making sure that there were just enough places at the banquet table for the rehearsal dinner and that there would be enough variety in the food that everyone would enjoy themselves. Thor was charged with making sure everything was in the right place, while Loki spent most of his day with Odin.

"Tomorrow is a very special day," Odin said, trying to keep his pride in check because he knew his adopted son was still not excited about the occasion.

"Yes, Father," Loki replied listlessly.

"You've done very well so far, and I have no doubt that you will continue to make your family and your kingdom very proud," he encouraged.

"Thank you, Father," the son replied, still only half paying attention.

"Have you told Myrkr about your heritage?" Odin asked bluntly because he could see that gently working up to the subject was not holding his son's interest.

Loki tried not to scowl. "I haven't."

"When do you intend to?" the King pressed.

"I haven't decided. I don't know if I trust her yet," he dodged.

"You will trust her with this," Odin firmly stated. "And you will tell her by your wedding night, or I will do it for you."

Loki seriously considered letting his father explain their situation because as far as he was concerned, it was all his fault anyway. However, he knew his father well enough to realize that such a discussion would reflect poorly on him.

"She will know as soon as you kiss her to seal your vows, though if you keep that affection brief, no one else will notice," the Allfather pointed out.

Loki paled. That was one thing he had overlooked. "I won't kiss her, not directly, not in front of the entire kingdom," he protested.

"Then you dishonor her and your marriage before it has even begun," Odin nearly bellowed.

"Yes, Father. I will find a way to tell her," he promised. "But-" he began then trailed off into his own thoughts.

"What is it?" the father asked.

"She will feel betrayed. From the little time I've spent speaking with her, she has no love for Jotun males. As I am, I give her something to admire. Should I break that illusion-" he tried but was cut off.

"If she is as pure of heart as I sense, then there will be no ill will because of this. The shared secret will bring you closer together," he advised.

Loki quieted.

The rehearsal went well, as did the feast afterward. There were quite a few questions directed at the couple toward the beginning of the meal, but before long the party devolved into more idle chatter. Loki appreciated that Myrkr seemed to defer to him whenever possible to answer the questions asked by his friends, but was willing to speak on her own behalf when it was required. He also appreciated that Thor was able to keep the conversation light, though that was usually something his brother did without thinking.

As dessert was being served, he asked that he and Myrkr be excused to discuss their vows. She knew he was lying because they already had those worked out, but she let it go because he wanted to speak with her privately.

He led her out to the balcony that overlooked the Bifrost. "Thank you for letting my mistruth slide," he began.

She smiled shyly. "It is nothing. What did you really want to talk about?"

He returned her smile with one of his own, though his was coy. "This is the last time I will see you before the wedding."

"That is the tradition," she agreed.

"Most couples want to savor this time because it is not something that can be returned to," he pointed out.

"That may be the case, but we are not most couples. What did you want to speak with me about?" she pressed.

"You are more willful when others are not listening," he noted.

"I do not believe that I am willful. I also don't think there needs to be any pretense between us when we are in private, but if you believe me to be speaking out of turn, then please say so," she replied.

He smirked. "No, you're right, and what I said earlier wasn't exactly a lie, more like a half-truth. The vows have been arranged, and I'm sure you'll recite them with great eloquence. It is what will happen after that concerns me," he began.

"What do you need me to do?" she confidently inquired, which almost made him smile.

"We are to kiss, and let's just say that sharing that affection in front of so many is unnerving to me," he explained.

Her heart sank. "Oh, I see. I don't suppose you called me out here to practice then?" she joked.

Loki laughed awkwardly "Ah, would that I could. No, it must be done this way." Then he turned to her, looking her straight in her blood red eyes. "It will be the briefest whisper of a kiss, no more, though I will linger close to you to give the impression of a more lasting embrace," he informed.

"I understand," she agreed.

He could see the hurt that his insistence provoked in her, and her willingness to concede to his wishes inspite of that moved him. "Tell me, truly, was that something you were looking forward to?"

She gave a sad little smile. "I know that even if you did kiss me passionately in front of the entire wedding audience, it would not be real. Just the same, there was a part of me that was hoping for at least a false affection."

"Why is that?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"I've never felt anything like that from anyone else before. I know it sounds foolish, but I would have pretended, at least for a moment, that it was real," she confessed.

Loki looked away from her and out into the distance again. "After the ceremony, there will be a short time between then and the reception. If you have done as I requested, I will make it up to you then," he promised.

She nodded. "Yes, of course."

"Thank you, and while I am thinking about it. If I should do anything that you perceive to be even slightly abnormal, I would appreciate it if you followed my lead. If you are to be _my _wife, you're going to need to be able to do at least that much for me," he half-joked.

His slight teasing made her smile return, if only just a little. "I will do my very best," she vowed.

He thanked her again, walked her back to her chambers, and said good night.

The following day was all hustle and bustle, hurry up and wait. Myrkr spent a good deal of time just standing in one place looking and turning this way and that while a flurry of women worked on and around her, dressing and preparing her for her big day. She felt a bit like a doll throughout the process, except on the rare occasion that one of them would ask her opinion on something, but she did appreciate that it gave her time to think about other things, those other things mainly being Loki.

She pictured him in her mind: tall, fair, discerning gaze, that certain play to his lips that made it difficult to tell if he was smirking or sneering, and his confident stance and stride. She closed her eyes and imagined his voice. He had spoken more to her in those few minutes the night before than he ever had. The more she thought about it, the easier it was the imagine the unique tone and meter of his voice.

As she thought about her husband to be, she had a strange feeling, the dawning of understanding in the back of her mind. It wasn't until it was nearly time to walk down the aisle that her thoughts coalesced into a rather striking realization. She gasped a little when she realized that she'd spoken to Loki much more than she'd originally thought. Then, when she replayed her discussion with the woman she thought to be his handmaiden, she blushed darkly.

Frigga, who had been overseeing her daughter-in-law's preparation noticed her sudden change in demeanor. "Is everything alright? Would you like some water?" she tried.

Myrkr stammered for a moment. "Oh, yes, please. And I'm quite alright. I've just been thinking, that's all."

"What were you thinking about that would making you turn such a color?" Frigga teased to hide her concern.

The Jotun woman blushed again, this time a little less noticeably. "Only that I am a very fortunate woman," she replied. "And that this dress is very heavy," she laughed.

Frigga shook her head. "The one you will wear to the reception will be lighter, I promise," she said as motioned for the woman's water glass to be filled again. After it was nearly emptied again, she urged her to stand and take a look at herself in the full length mirrors that made a half circle in the middle of her dressing room. "You look very beautiful," she said surely.

Myrkr tried not to frown.

"What is the matter?"

"Your women have done a flawless job of dressing me," she said as she focused her gaze on her dress.

"But?" Frigga prompted knowingly.

"My hair," she said. "It looks nice, but it feels very wrong. Would it be acceptable for me to do it myself?"

The queen checked the time. "Only if it will take you less than an hour," she bargained.

Myrkr smiled and asked the women who had done her hair to take it all down and remove all of the settings, apologizing every few seconds for wasting their time. The women did not reply, only did their work until they were dismissed. However, Frigga had them stay to observe.

The Jotun woman quickly and carefully combed her hair out straight and began to weave her strings of gold and jewels throughout. Frigga and her handmaidens watched in wonder as Myrkr would occasionally dip her fingers into her glass of water, run them through her hair and freeze it into place. Inevitably, it would melt, but it gave her enough time to work her hair into the desired design without the use of pins to keep her place when she moved from one side to the other. When she was finished, she turned and looked hopefully at her silent audience.

Frigga smiled. "You are right. That is much better," she confidently replied.

The ceremony started shortly after. As Myrkr approached the throne with Thor at her side, she couldn't help noticing that just about everyone present seemed genuinely happy. She even caught Loki give her the slightest of smiles as he watched her approach as gracefully as she could with as nervous as she was.

Everything went according to plan, and Loki's warning about any odd behavior on his part was only needed once. When they were to exchange rings, Loki went first, as was tradition, but he was careful not to actually touch her hand. He gingerly took her wrist, which was covered by her long sleeve, in one hand and slid her ring on with the other, giving her a meaningful look once it was in place. So, in keeping with her promise, she did the same for him. No one seemed to notice.

Then, the big moment. Loki took her into his arms and brushed his lips against hers just enough to get her to turn her head to make it look like a much longer affection to the crowd. When he took hold of her, Myrkr couldn't help thinking that just being held in his sure arms made up for the absence of a real kiss. Then, when their lips touched, it was only for a fraction of a second, but it sparked another realization in her, one that made her eyes fly open rather than slide shut to further enjoy the moment. Loki saw the expression on her face, the look of sudden epiphany. In response, he gave her a quick wink and then let her go so they could once again face the crowd and bathe in the cheers as they made their way out of the throne room. She just put on her best smile and let him lead her out.

He didn't stop until they were in the vault. The guards seemed very surprised to see them there but didn't question Loki when he ordered them to stand outside and allow no one to enter. Once they were alone, Myrkr turned to him to speak, but he began before she could even gather the breath to do so.

"This," he said as he motioned to the Casket of Ancient Winters, "is my father's wedding gift to you," he told her.

She looked at him like she couldn't care less about the casket. "Kiss me," she said.

Her sudden insistence caused him pause. "Odin believes that-" he tried to continue.

"I already know about the casket. It was the reason Laufey agreed to the treaty, to this arranged marriage. Now, kiss me," she insisted.

He approached her slowly with an almost dark look in his eyes. "You figured it out," he said.

"It wasn't difficult with all the obvious clues you gave me, and I've said nothing to anyone about it, nor do I intend to," she tried to boast but her voice took on an undeniable tremble as he drew closer.

"Most would simply think I am cold and heartless," he replied, now practically leaning over her. They were nearly touching but not quite. There was still the barest fraction of space between them.

"Not cold, frost, and if you were completely without heart, you would have not given me the opportunity to figure you out," she corrected.

Loki smiled, bring his hand up to her face, brushing the back of his fingers along her cheek and watching as his skin changed hue to more closely match hers.

"Now, I don't mean to put too fine a point on it, but I think it would only be fair if you at least kissed me now. You owe me at least that much," she persisted, her skin darkening with a slight blush.

"Oh? For keeping my secret?" he assumed.

It was Myrkr's turn to smirk. "I showed you everything. The least you could do is let me see your real face," she countered.

"Oh, you clever thing you," he muttered as he finally leaned in to kiss her.

They felt a cool rush ripple over them, and they both did something they never thought they would do. They kissed each other fearlessly. It was slow at first, easing into the pressure until their bodies were flush, making her gasp, an opening he couldn't resist. He managed to push down the urge to fully taste her mouth by flicking his tongue out to lick her lower lip. Even just from that he could taste a cool minty flavor on her, something he didn't expect and only served to egg him on.

When Loki finally threw caution to the wind and wrapped his arms around Myrkr, holding her tightly against him, he startled her enough to make her turn her head, breaking their kiss. "I suppose if this is how you kiss, it is best that we didn't do it in front of everyone."

Her awkward little joke made him laugh and he loosened his hold on her. He looked at her as though it was his first time seeing her, not initially realizing that it was because he was seeing her with his own, unaltered vision.

As he stared at her, she turned back to look at him, bringing her hand up to stroke his cheek and neck. "We should probably be getting back," she said as she guided him back down to kiss her again.

He laughed again, sounding giddy, and kissed her again. This time, as he held her, his embrace was eager but also somewhat protective, which seemed to ease her right up until someone else entered the vault. The loud, heavy doors immediately gave the presence away, but Loki was unusually distracted, and only looked up after he said, "I told you no one was to enter!"

"Yes, but since I am King, I can go where I please whenever I please," Odin replied in a teasing tone as the door shut behind him.

"Oh, Father, I didn't realize," Loki barely managed, forgetting that he was still holding his new wife.

"I am happy to see you two are getting along so well, but your Princess needs time to get ready for the reception," he continued to tease the newlyweds.

They both blushed very dark blue and hastily stepped apart. Myrkr watched in awe as Loki's appearance changed back.

"Run along," Odin urged her. "The Queen is very excited to see how you look in your reception gown."

"Yes, your Majesty," she bowed, smiled at Loki, and hurried out.

"My son, you forget yourself so easily in the arms of a woman?" Odin asked, his tone speaking of parental guidance.

"My apologies, Father. It won't happen again," he managed.

Odin chuckled and patted Loki on the back. "Perhaps I will have grandchildren from you after all," he mused as he led him out the vault.

Myrkr was given a beautiful sleeveless gown to wear and Frigga's handmaidens did what little they could to help her put her hair up. Loki knew her arms would be bare, and so elected to wear long sleeves and gloves to the reception. As grateful as he was that he could at least take precautions like these, he was looking forward to a time when they weren't held under such intense public scrutiny. Either way, he found himself looking forward to dancing with her, something that a couple of days ago, he never would have expected.

Once he was dressed, he sat down at the small table beside his bookcase and poured himself a glass of wine. He no sooner put it to his lips when Thor came bursting in, startling him so badly that he nearly spilled the dark liquid on his pants.

"Brother!" the blonde excitedly greeted.

Loki grumbled and set down his glass. "Brother," he returned the greeting with significantly less enthusiasm. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" He was getting very tired of having others suddenly walk in on him. At least this time, he wasn't in a compromising position.

Unfazed by his brother's unwelcoming attitude, he walked over and gave him a hearty pat on the shoulder. "That was a beautiful ceremony! Congratulations!"

Loki rolled his eyes. "Yes. Thank you."

"How is Myrkr holding up? The two of you disappeared so quickly afterward that there was talk about your eagerness to consummate your new union," he teased.

Rage flared behind Loki's green eyes. "There was what?" he indignantly demanded.

"I kid," Thor eased with a chuckle. It was not usually so easy to rile of his younger brother. "Fandral made a remark that I doubt any but our friends heard, and Sif was sure to make him aware of how inappropriate his comment was."

"At least someone around here still has some sense of decency," Loki muttered and finally took a sip of his wine.

"A bit early to be drinking, isn't it?" Thor chided.

"This coming from the man who already stinks of ale," his younger brother sniped.

"I am not going to be the center of attention, at least not if I can help it," he joked.

"I'm sure you'll manage something," Loki said with a small chuckle. "And for once, I won't complain."

"Are you that nervous?" Thor asked sympathetically.

"If our skin touches for more than a moment, everyone will know that I am not truly of Asgard, and yet I am expected to dance with Myrkr. She and I can be careful enough, but it would only take one drunken stumble and-" he informed until Thor cut him off.

"I will see to it that nothing like that happens," he assured. Then something occurred to him. "You said she and I. Does that mean she knows?" he asked hopefully.

Loki nodded. "That is where we went after the ceremony. Father insisted that I tell her before today was over. I reasoned that would be the best time."

"How did she react?" Thor excitedly pressed.

There was no way that Loki was going to tell Thor, or anyone else, that things in the vault went exceedingly well, that he actually felt much closer to Myrkr than he expected, or that he had kissed her like no one else before. "She's not stupid. She reacted well enough."

Thor frowned. "I see you haven't taken my advice on being nicer to her," he grumbled.

"How nice I am is only your concern if it reflects on you, which it does not. It is my right to be critical, especially considering the circumstances, so you'll excuse me if I don't throw caution to the wind and allow myself to be overwhelmed by her wiles," he sarcastically retorted.

The blonde cocked an eyebrow. "So you admit she has wiles. I suppose that's a start." Then he looked at the clock. "Come along, your guests are waiting for you."

They met Myrkr and their parents just outside of the already noisy banquet hall. She tried not to smile too widely at Loki, who did an excellent job of not reacting to her in the least even though he found her stunning. If he hadn't seen her gown before and if he wasn't so practiced at keeping his reactions to himself, he would have likely made a fool of himself because when he saw her, the first thing he thought of was kissing her again.

She took his arm and they entered, followed by the King and Queen then Thor who was accompanied by Lady Sif. Myrkr was almost overwhelmed by the outpouring. The cheers were so loud that it was almost deafening. Loki could see her discomfort, in spite of her best effort to cover it up, and said to her in a quiet voice as he helped her into her seat. "Many of them are already drunk and the rest are just happy for the feast. You needn't feel any extra pressure because of their extra noise."

She laughed a little at his tone. He sounded almost irritated, maybe even a little embarrassed by his kinsmen. Once they were all seated, Odin called everyone to order. The room falling practically silent in a matter of seconds, which Myrkr found even more unnerving than the previous cacophony.

Odin spoke in a booming voice. "I would like to thank everyone for coming to help us celebrate the joining of my son Loki to Myrkr, an outstanding daughter of Jotunheim, and the renewal of a lasting peace between our peoples." he told the crowd. Then, he turned to the couple. "Some are lucky enough to choose their partners themselves. Others, like yourselves, have them chosen for you. Very few find that the one chosen for them is the one they would have chosen given the opportunity. I sincerely hope that you are among those few," he told them seriously.

There was another great cheer, followed by the first of many servings of food. Between courses, Thor and a few others took the opportunity to make small, heart-warming speeches. Then, came the dancing. The newlywed couple did their obligatory waltz, followed by Loki dancing with Frigga, then Myrkr with Odin. Then others were invited to dance as well, at which point Thor was quick to ask for a dance from Myrkr as well. She danced with so many others after that that by the time they were to cut the cake, she had yet to make it back to her husband, something she would have felt guilty about if it didn't make hiding his secret that much easier.

Their cake was the biggest, most decadent thing she had never seen. At first, she didn't even believe it was food, and once she realized that it was, she wasn't sure if she would be able to bring herself to cut the beautiful white structure with delicate blue flowers. Luckily, she wasn't given much time to think about it. Loki gave her the knife, move around behind her, and took hold of her hand, guiding her to make the first slice. Again, there was a roaring cheer as they finished the job of cutting and plating their slice, which they took turns feeding to one another. Then, they took their seats while the servants cut and served everyone. The party continued well into the night, but the couple said goodnight to their guests only a couple of hours after their duties were all performed.


	4. The Marriage Bed

Loki and planned to leave the reception as soon as etiquette would allow even before he'd met Myrkr. He just didn't expect to be happy to be leaving with her.

"Your friends are very funny," Myrkr mused as they walked down the corridor.

"They have their moments," Loki sighed, trying not to be embarrassed by their rancorous behavior.

"Where are we going?" she asked hopefully.

He looked at her as though she should already know. "To our chambers."

She hesitated for a brief second. "Our?" she repeated.

"Yes, our things have been moved to a space large enough to accommodate the both of us. It is the custom that we live together for as long as our union is harmonious, or as long as we wish to perpetuate the illusion of harmony," he explained. "I thought that with all your studying and preparation, you would have known that." He sounded chiding, but really her sudden apprehension intrigued him.

She felt anxiety balling up in her stomach. "I suppose I did know, I just didn't expect it to happen so quickly," she sheepishly replied.

He didn't reply to that, and a short time later, he was showing her into their private chambers. They might as well have had an entire house to themselves as far as she was concerned. First was the sitting room, complete with several large bookcases, a set of table and chairs, a fireplace, and countless decorations. That connected to their bedroom, containing among other thigns an excessively large four-poster bed covered in piles of fine blankets and pillows. It even had a retractable curtain that could be pulled all the way around the upper frame. The fireplace in the sitting room also worked to warm this space in the colder months.

Loki was doing the gentlemanly thing of showing her around their new quarters, pointing out which things had been put there for her especially, but when he stood at the threshold between the bedroom and the next section that contained their bathroom on the right and wardrobe on the left, he noticed she was no longer following him. He was about to scold her for not keeping up when he turned to see that she had stopped about a third of the way into the bedroom and was staring at the bed.

"Myrkr," he said, then repeated her name a little louder when that didn't get her attention.

She started a little at the sound of her name. "Hm?" she barely replied.

"Is something the matter?" he asked as neutrally as he could manage.

"That is _our_ bed," she said quietly.

"That it is. It is customary for us to share a bed," he informed.

She nodded. "Yes, of course."

He could see that she wasn't really alright with that. "That bothers you."

She turned away a bit to hide her face. "Only because I cannot remember the last time I shared a sleeping pace with someone else." To show that it wasn't necessarily him that she had a problem with, she walked over to the lavish bed, lightly running her fingers up the side until she reached the curtain. "I suppose this is suppose to keep the servants from seeing you, should we happen to touch in our sleep," she mused, noticing that although the fabric was light, it was completely opaque.

"It will protect your modesty as well," he said, stepping up to the other side of the bed. "Not to be too blunt, but you sweat wearing even the lightest of clothes. I have a hard time believing that you would be able to remain beneath a blanket while sleeping."

He had been expecting her to be at least a little offended by that, but she just laughed. Then, feeling a little braver, she sat down on the edge of the bed. Curious, Loki followed suit.

"Perhaps the rest of the tour can wait," he teased as he kicked off his shoes and began removing some of his outer layers.

She hesitantly slipped off her sandals and untied her hair. She watched as he scooted backward until he was seated with his back resting against the large stack of pillows at the head of the bed, and jumped a little when he invitingly patted the spot next to him.

"You don't have to be nervous," he told her seriously.

She laughed awkwardly. "I know what's expected of me at this point, but I don't really know what I'm doing, so you just do whatever you want, alright?" she tried.

He laughed. "While it is customary for a newlywed couple to consummate their union, that will not be the case with us. We have done all that has been required of us, and no one is going to ask about it. Even if someone is stupid enough to say something, neither of us is required to answer, if only for the sake of modesty."

"Oh..." she said quietly.

He cocked an eyebrow. "Are you disappointed?"

She blushed and laughed nervously. "I'm not sure. I am relieved."

"Good. The way I see it, we've been forced into a lot of things. This is something we have control over, something we have a choice about," he gently persuaded.

Myrkr nodded. "Yeah, that is true, and I don't know about you, but I am not ready to have children," she half-joked.

Loki's slight smile returned. "Well, if we ever do get to that, there are enhancements that prevent conception. Otherwise, this castle would be full of my bastards," he added grimly.

She looked at him with wide eyes. "Really?"

He laughed. "Well, perhaps not full," he hedged.

"Oh, I didn't realize," she said softly.

She was obviously lost in thought after that, and he could see that she was very tired. So, he reached over and took her hand, feeling the cool rush over his skin as he changed into his Jotun form.

"What about the curtain?" she asked hesitantly.

"No one will bother us tonight, and I will pull it before I fall asleep," he assured.

For a long time after that, they sat in silence holding hands and enjoying the peace of each other's company. Then, just when she started to nod off, he pulled away and sat up. "I know you are comfortable, but I should finish showing you around, and we should properly dress for bed."

They finished looking around and ended in the wardrobe, a room as large as their bedroom but full of clothes and mirrors and a matching pair of vanities.

"Mother was unsure about your preferences, so she went a little overboard with your wardrobe," he motioned to the racks upon racks of clothes on the right side of the room. "As you decide what you like and dislike, you may have things removed or changed as you see fit," he told her in a business-like voice. Then he pulled out one of the shorter racks. "These are your nightwear."

Loki stepped back and went over to his side of the room while Myrkr looked over her options. He passively observed her as she flipped through the hangers on the rack he'd shown her. She took a few seconds to really look at each article before moving on to the next. During this, he stripped down to nothing. She seemed so focused on what she was doing that he didn't think she would care. However, the sudden sound of his balled up clothes hitting their hamper drew her attention.

Myrkr's gaze flicked to the basket designated for their dirty clothes, then to her new husband. "Oh," was all she could say at first when she saw his bare body. She didn't even realize she was staring at him until he turned around the rest of the way to let her really look at him. "Oh, goodness," she blushed and turned away. She blushed not because she was embarrassed but because she found him unusually attractive and turned away because she didn't want him to think her staring was lecherous because it was mostly out of surprise. "I'm sorry," she hastily added because that was what she thought she should do.

Loki laughed. "Why are you sorry? I tricked you into stripping for me. Besides, if we are to share a living space, it is likely that we will see each others bodies on a regular basis."

"I suppose we're even then," she half-joked, still pointedly looking away. .

"Look at me," he suggested, using his powers of persuasion to do so as he stepped into the middle of the room.

She couldn't help doing what he said, though she could tell that he was imposing his will on her in some ineffable way. She kept her eyes on him as he made a slow turn before her. He seemed very pleased with himself, very confident with his appearance, if his posture and cocky smirk were anything to go by.

"What do you think of me?" he asked knowingly.

A couple of days ago, she would have automatically praised his beauty. Now that she knew him a little better, she felt comfortable being a bit brash. "That is not you," she dismissed.

Loki frowned, but before he could say anything, she walked over and placed her hand on his chest, watching with a pleased expression as the enchantment over him faded, leaving him blue-skinned and red-eyed before her. She even smirked a bit when she pointed at his nipples with her other hand.

"Looks like I'm not the only one who's shy," she mused.

Loki looked down to see that she was right, then chuckled a little as he turned to look at them in the set of full length mirrors a few feet away.

"What's funny?" she asked curiously, now unabashedly checking him out.

"I was only made aware of the enchantment over my appearance recently. I confess, I haven't seen myself like this without clothes," he said. Then, he put his hand on hers, guiding it up to his shoulder as he turned to look at himself in the mirror, doing his best to keep hidden his reaction because in all honesty, he found himself mildly repulsive. When he looked back on that gut reaction later, he couldn't help finding it a bit odd because when he'd seen her, he did not have the same thoughts. It made him start to realize just how much hate he had internalized and turned on himself. After a long moment like that, he took her hand away, and they watched him change back.

"You are not built like most Jotun," she said as they went back to what they were doing.

"The same could be said for you," he replied neutrally.

"But to answer your earlier question, you are quite stunning either way, but I think you already know that," she retracted self-consciously.

"You think me so prideful?" he playfully accused as he slipped into a light pair of sleeping pants. It was warm enough that he considered not wearing anything else.

"I think that a man with as many lovers as you suggested would not have issues with confidence," she answered honestly.

"What if I told you they were more seduced by my status than my appearance?" he proposed.

She thought about that for a moment. "Do you want me to flatter you?"

"Only if you mean it," he countered playfully.

"Then I would suppose that you seduce a lot of blind women," she said, oddly sure of herself. It took her a moment to realize that it was because he already stated that he had no intentions of having sex with her.

He smiled. "In spite of myself, I do believe I am starting to like you," he replied.

She didn't reply to that. She was too busy making her second pass through the rack of night clothes.

"Not seeing anything that you like?" he asked curiously.

Myrkr made a soft sound of frustration. "These are all very nice things, but none of them seem very comfortable to sleep in."

Loki walked over to her side and ran his fingers over the covered parts of the hangers. "What would you consider comfortable?"

She took a step back and clumsily removed her gown and everything else until she stood before him only in a simple pair of light panties. "If you don't mind, I would sleep best like this," she said as bravely as she could.

Loki nodded and they headed back to the bed.

"Will the Queen be disappointed that I don't want to wear those things?" she asked as she started moving things around on her side, which mostly involved setting all but one pillow off the bed and pushing the heavier blankets down to the foot.

Loki helped her in removing the heavy blankets, if only because it was too hot for those anyway, and drew the curtain "She wants you to be comfortable. It's not as though you'll be walking around naked anywhere but in our chambers, so it is really no one's concern but ours what you choose to wear or not where while we are alone together."

"Does it bother you?" she pressed as she slipped beneath the lightest sheet.

Loki did the same, though he preferred at least two pillows and arranged those to his liking while pushing the rest off the side. "It would bother me more if you tossed and turned all night in discomfort," he answered.

"So it does bother you that I am more comfortable wearing so little?"

"You are physically more comfortable this way," he corrected. "It is obvious that you have some kind of hang up about being so revealed in front of others."

She gave him a suspicious sideways glance. "If I do have difficulties with that, it is because of the expectations set by your culture, and you didn't answer my question."

"You only need to worry about cultural expectations outside of these doors. Within these chambers you may behave however you see fit," he replied as he pulled the blankets up to his chin.

She felt stymied by his lack of response. "Loki," she began, feeling strange about only calling him by his first name like that.

"What?" he tiredly prompted.

She pursed her lips. "Never mind. It can wait. Sleep well," she wished and likewise got comfortable enough to drift to sleep.

Loki didn't bother asking about it the following morning, figuring that if she really wanted to say something to him, she would.

Things died down pretty quickly after that and life in Asgard returned to some sense of normalcy, which was much appreciated by everyone. Every few nights, Loki and Myrkr dined with his family. The rest of the time, they ate alone together in their chambers. She was grateful that the cooks who made their food didn't seem to mind making separate dishes for her based on her culinary preferences when everyone else was set to have something she didn't care for. Every once in awhile, though, they ate with his friends. This was probably the most relaxed setting for Myrkr because she could easily sit quietly and watch and listen to them joke and tell stories, and none of them seemed to mind when she took her leave of them between dinner and dessert to have some time to herself.

The others didn't tend to pay her much mind, figuring that their rancorous behavior just got to be too much for her, but after a while, Fandral said something.

"Why does she always leave like that?" the blonde asked as he stroked his mustache.

"You are all too rowdy. She would rather go to the library and read well composed stories than listen to you lot drunkenly ramble off the same ones time after time," Loki condescendingly returned.

"The least she could do is stay for dessert," the pressed.

Thor took the liberty of fielding this question. "She does not care for our decadent desserts."

"I don't suppose she got much of anything like that back where she's from," Sif mused as she started in on her cake.

"Many of the flavors that you so readily enjoy, do not sit well with her," Loki dismissively informed.

"Maybe it's all just a bit too warm for her," Fandral joked. "She doesn't even start in on her dinner until it's half cold."

Loki sighed with irritation.

Volstagg, feeling sympathetic, asked. "Loki, do you know why she does not like our sweets? Is there perhaps something else she would prefer as an after dinner treat?"

Only because these questions were spoken with earnest concern did Loki indulge to answer them. "Her mouth tastes of mint. There are many things that taste very terrible when combined with that flavor."

Fandral grinned. "So you have consummated your marriage," he teasingly accused.

Loki glared daggers across the table. "I don't see what business it is of yours unless you've been so hard up that you're looking for a good story to jack off to later."

"Ooh, testy," the blonde taunted. "I don't blame you. If I had to stick my dick in an icicle of a woman, I'd probably be a bit cross too," he continued to taunt.

Loki's eye twitched with irritation and with a wave of his hand, he turned Fandral's cake, including the bite on the fork that was mere inches from his mouth, into a heaping, stinking pile of manure. Everyone in the room immediately lurched back from it while Fandral dropped his fork and nearly fell out of his chair trying to get away from it.

"That was uncalled for," Thor tried to scold his brother although he did feel the reaction was justified, if disgusting.

"I just felt like sharing how quickly my appetite left when our friend decided it was his place to make such distasteful comments," he tartly replied as he wiped his mouth and stood. As an afterthought, he waved his hand and returned the cake to it's original form before leaving.

Thor went to follow him, but Sif did it for him. When she caught up with the younger prince, she was met with a very scathing tone.

"If you are here to tell me that I overreacted, then you best turn back now," Loki advised darkly.

"Fruit," she said simply.

Loki cocked an incredulous eyebrow. "What?"

"Preferably fresh fruit," she clarified.

"What about it?"

"Those are the sweet flavors that go best with mint," she informed.

Loki was genuinely impressed by that. "Thank you," he said, obviously still not sure, and went to go back to his chambers again.

"And you were right. Fandral was being an ass. He deserved that," she called after him.

He didn't respond, but he did appreciate her assessment. Myrkr was still at the library when he got back, so he just pulled one of his favorite books from the shelf, poured himself a glass of wine, and settled himself into a comfortable chair.

Myrkr returned a couple of hours later, as was becoming her habit, and removed most of her clothes, as was also becoming the norm. Anymore, Loki didn't even bat an eye.

"How was the library?" he distractedly asked.

"Lovely as usual," she simply replied. She didn't tell him that about half the time she spent away from him like that was not in the library, but doing a different sort of research. She paced around for a minute before sitting down across from him. "I've been thinking about something. I would like your opinion," she finally said.

Because she so rarely interrupted what he was doing, he took note of the page he was on and set down his book. "You mentioned something awhile back. I thought it was to test me, but I couldn't help looking into it," she began.

"What is it?" he prompted, trying not to sound too impatient.

"It must be very difficult for you to abstain from sexual activity after being so active before we were married," she tried.

"You're assuming that I haven't found other to fulfill that niche," he dismissed.

"You haven't," she said.

"What makes you so sure?" he scoffed.

"Because I would be able to smell them on you," she informed.

That was not something he expected. "So, say I have been sexually frustrated. It sounds as though you've developed some sort of solution for me."

"It is my understanding that it is...permitted for you to take a mistress, granted she is acceptable to me," she said, now a little less sure of herself.

"Is that what you spend all those hours reading about in the library?" he laughed.

"It is one of the things I have read about," she defensively replied. "And I would thank you not to laugh at me for doing something that is for your benefit."

He tried to stop laughing and took a sip of his wine. "Why would you bother yourself? Or have you found a man that you fancy and want a guilt-free way to engage with him? You know, he would have to live up to my standards," he teased.

That made Myrkr angry. She snatched up his goblet and splashed the remainder of his wine in his face. "I bother myself because I am committed to your well being, and how dare you make such assumptions about me? You know me better than anyone here, but you have absolutely no understanding of what I fancy."

After wiping most of the wine from his face, Loki looked up at his wife who sat before him with tears standing in her angry red eyes. He thought for a second. This could either be their first fight, or he could apologize and try to come to some kind of understanding. He was still upset about what Fandral had said earlier, but he had already promised himself that he wouldn't let the ill will he received from others be taken out on her. He knew that if he allowed that to happen, their relationship would disintegrate even more quickly than it had been built.

"My apologies," he said quietly, obviously annoyed that he was even saying it in the first place. "It is very big of you to make such an offer," he conceded. "Most women would be bitter about such a thing and rather their husband's manhood rot and fall off than to let another woman have him."

Her glare weakened.

"But you needn't worry about me. I have plenty of ways to entertain myself without the help of others," he half-joked.

A number of very vivid images popped into Myrkr's mind, making her blush deeply. "Oh, alright then."

"Tell me, truly, is there another man? I promise not to tease you," he tried.

"What? No, of course not," she dismissed. "No one here looks twice at me except to gawk in morbid fascination. Everyone is nice enough to my face, but they are also careful to keep their distance."

That actually made him feel a bit sad. "So things are getting better," he wryly mused. "Say someone were to show an interest in you, who would you prefer?"

She looked at him like he was crazy.

"Hypothetically speaking. It could be anyone: man, woman, young, old, whatever," he listed. "I myself don't mind the look of that little blonde who tends our laundry in the mornings," he tried.

She shook her head. "I appreciate what you're doing, but I don't want to play this game."

"Please? You said yourself that although I know you best, I do not know you very well at all," he pressed.

"No," she shook her head as she stood. She was about to leave the room, but took a few extra seconds to look at him while she slipped back into her light dress. Had she simply left, he would have just assumed that he had offended her. Her choosing to linger gave her away.

"It's me," he said with a slight smirk.

Myrkr scowled and stormed off. Instead of washing up and getting ready for bed, which was what she'd planned originally, she left their chambers, even going as far as to slam the door behind her. Loki waited to follow her because he knew there was only one place she would go.


	5. Reconciliation

As she made her way to the vault, Myrkr happened upon Thor and his friends who were just parting ways for the evening.

"Ah, my dearest sister-in-law!" Thor gushed when he saw her, draping a heavy arm over her shoulders as he stumbled to embrace her.

His sudden outburst made her almost forget what she was doing. "Prince Thor, my perpetually generous brother-in-law," she greeted in return, though she sounded less sure than he did.

"What has you out so late?" Sif asked before someone else could but with less tact. "Are you headed back to the library?"

Myrkr drew herself up. "Hm? No, it's nothing. I'm just...out for a bit," she managed.

After a night of drinking and having been badgered by his friends, Fandral felt bad about how he had acted earlier. "Please tell Loki that I am very sorry about what I said earlier. You are a lovely person, and it was wrong of me to imply otherwise."

The Jotun woman stepped out from under Thor's arm, letting him nearly fall to the ground from the lack of support. "What did you say?"

Sif fielded that question. "He was making inappropriate comments about the marriage bed, as lesser men tend to do. It is nothing to be concerned about," she eased.

She let that drop for the time being and decided to take it upon herself to make sure Thor made it back to his chambers safely. Once she was alone with him, she asked what had been on her mind. "What did Fandral say about me?" she practically demanded.

Thor faltered. "It is unfair to ask a man such blunt questions while he is intoxicated."

"I don't care about what's fair. I want to know what was said, and you are going to tell me," she informed.

"Or what?" he countered arrogantly.

"I am not a strong as you physically, but I am not without my own power. Tell me. I don't intend to use it against anyone. I just want to know," she insisted.

"Look, I don't remember exactly what he said," he hedged. "It was just something about how he imagined it would be uncomfortable to have sex with someone whose body is so cold," he managed, only slurring a little here and there for the sake of making sure he said just the right thing.

Myrkr scoffed. "Little does he know."

"Exactly. Loki was just upset that he was talking about his sex life. You should have seen what happened after that. Loki turned Fandral's dessert into a great big pile of shit!" he laughed loudly at the memory. "It was absolutely disgusting, but it got his point across."

Myrkr couldn't help laughing as well. "Tell me one more thing before I go," she requested softly once their laughter died down.

"What is it? What troubles you?" he asked earnestly.

"Does Loki ever talk about me?" she asked.

Thor shrugged. "Only on occasion."

That did not surprise her. "When he does, is it good?"

He almost started laughing again. "I know my brother, so believe me when I say that he has grown rather fond of you. Even when his words say things that aren't the most...positive, I can tell by his tone and the look on his face, that he means them in the best possible way. He often sees emotional attachments as weaknesses that can be easily exploited by others, so when he does have good feelings for another, it is not without reason."

That made her feel a little better. "Do you know if he thinks I'm attractive?" she asked sheepishly.

Thor smiled sadly. "He does not speak of things that are so personal, and I'm afraid even if he did see how beautiful you are, that he has too much self-hate to realize it," he lamented.

As sad as that made Myrkr, it wasn't as disheartening as she thought such news would be. "Very well. Thank you."

Just as she was about to leave, Thor called her back. "I hate to impose on you further, but I'm not sure I can make it to my bed, and it'd be most embarrassing to fall down and pass out halfway there. Normally, Loki helps me with such things, but since he's not here," he tried.

She laughed and shook her head in exasperation. "I'll help you. Come on," she slung his arm over her shoulders and helped him to his feet. Fortunately, he could still support most of his own weight and only needed her to guide him.

He flopped down onto the bed a minute later. "Thank you very much," he told her earnestly. Then, just as she was pulling away from him, he caught the faintest whiff of her breath. Without thinking, he grabbed her face and pulled her in for a sloppy, drunken kiss.

Myrkr was so shocked that she froze in place right up until he tried to push his tongue into her mouth. She pulled away from him, her expression speaking to her surprise and confusion, but the person who had been watching them for the last minute or so didn't see that.

"Him? Really?" Loki said in a low voice, a scowl imprinted on his features.

"Loki?" Myrkr and Thor said in unison.

"I should have known," the dark-haired prince spat. "You've fancied her since she got here, haven't you?" he accused.

"Brother, it's not what it looks like," Thor weakly defended as he pushed her away.

"I'm not stupid, Thor," Loki snapped. "And you," he said, turning his gaze to his wife, "why him? Surely you could have found someone who wasn't so clumsy or stupid, someone who didn't drink himself into a stupor just to impress his friends or-" he began to lecture Myrkr but she cut him off.

"Someone more like you?" she countered as she stormed over to her husband. "Someone who is too concerned with his own pride to see that the person who happens to care for him the most is right in front of him?" she said as she stood before him.

"Don't try to play tricks or twist my words. I know what I saw," he said, now a little less sure of himself.

"Oh? Enlighten me, what did you see?" she challenged.

Thor laid quietly on his bed. He wasn't sure if he should say anything and even if he could he was probably too inebriated to properly contribute to their argument.

"I saw you take my drunken, half-witted brother to bed, lay down on top of him, and let him kiss you," he accused.

She scoffed. "And I thought you were supposed to be the smart one."

He almost hit her for that. His hand shook at his side with the urge to physically put her in her place, but he knew it wouldn't do any good.

"Brother, listen," Thor finally urged. "She helped me to my bed because I couldn't manage it on my own. Your wife made no advances on me. We spent most of our time talking about you. She may be too proud to say it, but she worries that you don't truly care for her, that you find her unattractive. I only kissed her because of a lapse in judgement. After you said she tasted of mint, I couldn't help myself," he confessed. "If you're going to be angry, direct your anger at me. The error was mine."

Loki knew his brother was capable of such a thing, but he wanted to be angry with Myrkr. He had so many pent up emotions that this was the easiest way to let them vent. He looked Myrkr right in the eyes. "I understand now why you didn't want to answer me earlier," he sniped.

Myrkr looked back over her shoulder at Thor who was struggling to stay conscious enough to follow their conversation. "Let's go back to our chambers to work this out," she offered.

"Why? Are you scared of embarrassing yourself in front of your lover?" he crudely accused.

She made a sound of exasperation. "I am surrounded by drunken fools."

"How dare you dismiss-" he began but she cut him off.

"I can smell the wine on your breath," she retorted.

"You smell the wine you splashed in my face," he countered.

"I can practically see it coursing through your veins," she added. "But if you are going to be so insistent, I suppose I will have to risk embarrassment to hopefully resolve this," she sighed.

"This should be good," he scoffed.

Myrkr leveled a challenging look on her husband and forcibly took his hand, holding him tight until his appearance changed. "You," she said, pointing a finger from her free hand at him. "You are the one. I have dreams about the kiss we shared in the vault. When I see you changing or bathing or even doing something as simple as reading a book, I have feelings that I've never felt before. You spark a strange quivering in my belly that I don't know what to do with," she aggressively confessed.

Loki drew himself up, and with a flick of his wrist used his magic to lock the door to Thor's chamber. "If that is true, then why not say something? Why offer to find me mistresses? Why not try to kiss me again?"

"Why would I when you've made it so perfectly clear that you don't want me in that way? Our first night together you pretty much told me that you don't want to have anything to do with me when it comes to doing more in our bed than sleeping. When you look at me, and I have seen you look at me, you do not have the same look that other men do when they are gazing upon the one they desire. Why would I throw myself at you when it is so obvious that you find me repulsive? And what difference does it make to you who I would choose to be with instead? I would be lucky to find even one person who wouldn't simply indulge me out of morbid curiosity! Why do you care so much if he has me when I am not someone that you want?" she lectured.

"Because _he _gets everything that's even remotely worth having," he bitterly replied, though he was feeling that he didn't have much of a leg to stand on at this point.

"You didn't even want her to begin with," Thor muttered, now only half-awake.

Myrkr looked up at Loki as though her case had been made. Seeing that he was having trouble forming a better response, she let go of his hand, but before he could really start to change back, he grabbed her. "Your presence torments me," he told her. "I live a lie every day, and you are a constant reminder of that lie," he told her in a low voice.

"I didn't make you what you are. I simply accepted you," she retorted.

Now that was not something Loki was expecting to hear. In all his life, he had never really felt accepted. His brother outshined him in every way that was valued by Asgard and would take their father's place on the throne to the great joy of the masses. He took it on faith that the people he knew as his parents accepted him because if they hadn't, he would not be where he was, nor given the opportunities that he had, but all the same, the Allfather enchanted him so that he would appear to be something he wasn't.

The thing he longed for and never really realized it was standing right in front of him, and he felt a fool for not realizing it sooner. Without warning, he pulled her close and kissed her. He didn't relent until they were both gasping for breath, and when he did, they both laughed awkwardly, which turned into mutual looks of exasperation when Thor started snoring.

"Please, let's go back to our chambers," she pleaded earnestly.

Loki nodded and they left. He was content to walk side by side with her, but after the rather intense conversation they just had, she felt the need for more than that, so she carefully took his arm, and he did not see fit to rebuke her.

Once back in their chambers, Loki locked the door and turned to Myrkr.

"Tell me, honestly, just this once. I need to know. What, if anything, do you feel for me?" she asked, a bit of desperation seeping through.

He felt a bit bad for toying with her the way he had. She contained her reactions to him so well, that he didn't really realize until now that she had been susceptible to his flirtations. That on top of how openly warm she was to him when they were alone together, made him speak truly to her, knowing that she would share whatever he said with no one. "You are beautiful and clever and charming. You make me laugh, I mean really laugh, and you are not the only one who has had a quivering in their belly." He used her words mostly because he found the phrasing entertaining and unique.

"Then why didn't you make an advance? I am your wife, if you are going to come on to anyone, you have every right to have it be me," she pointed out.

"At first, I was bitter and willful," he admitted. "Then, I did it out of respect for you. You hide your feelings very well, almost as well as I do. On top of that," he began but hesitated.

"What?" she pressed anxiously.

"I didn't want to frighten you. From what you told me, you have not had any good sexual experiences. I did not want you to associate me with one of your entitled attackers. I know you said that you would not view me that way, but you can say that and still have the trauma come back to you. It is not something you can control," he thoughtfully replied.

"You would not do the things that they did," she told him. "You would not hold me down as I screamed for mercy. You would not make me bleed and leave me a broken heap for someone else to find."

The very idea made his skin crawl. "What do you think I would do?" he asked hoping that she could paint a positive picture as easily as she did horror.

She blushed and motioned for him to follow her into the bedroom. Once there, she lightly ran her fingers up his arm. Even through his shirt, he could feel the slight chill of her skin. "You would touch me softly until I needed more. You would kiss me and say good things to me. You wouldn't hurt me on purpose," she listed, her skin darkening further.

Loki smiled a little. "You would undress me," he said hopefully.

She barely nodded and got to work on carefully removing his clothes.

"You've gotten much better at managing Asgardian attire," he coyly complemented.

"Only because the women who help me dress always tie me up too tightly," she teasingly complained.

"Fortunately, you cannot be contained so easily," he replied as he moved to make it easier for her to pull his shirt up over his head. Then, he couldn't resist kissing her again. She eagerly reciprocated but with a self-conscious hesitance that made it easier for him to keep from moving too quickly. "You are delicious," he said in a husky voice when their kiss broke a few intense moments later.

That was the most blatant compliment he'd ever given her, and it made her stammer a bit. Then, just as she was about to regain her words, he sat down on the edge of the bed, pulling her into his lap.

"But I didn't finish," she weakly complained.

"There is time for that later. We have all night, even the next day, however long it takes," he rambled as he kissed down the side of her neck.

She couldn't help pressing herself against him as his lips tasted and teased the thin skin of her throat. When he grazed her windpipe, she shuddered and harshly grasped at his shoulders.

"Did I do something wrong?" he asked carefully when he saw the anxious look in her eyes.

She laughed nervously. "No, of course not."

"Then why does it feel like you're about to either tear me apart or flee for your life?" he asked as playfully as he could, placing one hand on her hip and the other on the hand that was digging sharp black fingernails into his shoulder.

She relaxed as much as she could. "This is the first time I've willingly bared my throat to another. It is a sign of trust and submission," she explained.

"Ah," he said, obviously intrigued by that. "Well, I will have your trust, but you needn't submit to me unless that is what gives you pleasure," he bargained.

She bit her lip and nodded. Then he did something that made her eyes grow wide with amazement. He tilted his head back and away from her, moving his hand from her hip and using it to guide her face toward him until her lips brushed over the thick vein to the side of his windpipe. Instinctively, he felt his stomach clench and his pulse quicken.

He expected a kiss from her at that point, and ended up groaning when she licked him instead, her soft tongue running upward to his jaw until he couldn't take it anymore and kissed her again. As he did, her hands moved down from his shoulders and over the soft, cool plain of his chest. When her fingers brushed over one of his nipples, he made a strange little sound and broke their kiss. She gave him a questioning look and did it again.

"Am I detecting some unexpected sensitivity?" she asked impishly.

He gave her a challenging look that quickly disappeared when she lightly pinched his areola, making him gasp. "St-Stop," he requested without thinking.

She did as he asked, looking curiously at him as her hand slowly moved away from his chest.

"Thank you," he managed to say, feeling embarrassed that something so simple could threaten to overwhelm him. Then, he felt compelled to see how she would react to similar attention.

For the sake of her psychological comfort, he started with palming her breasts through her clothes, which she seemed to enjoy. They kissed some more while he tested her sensitivity that way, finding her breasts firmer than he expected, though not unpleasantly so. When he brushed his thumb over her covered nipples, she whimpered and squirmed in his lap.

"I've noticed your preference for softer fabrics. Is this part of why you prefer not to be covered?" he asked curiously.

"Aside from the heat, yes," she conceded between breathy gasps.

Loki looked up into his wife's eyes and saw there a need that he had never seen in her before, and it made him feel good. Acting on that feeling he reached up to pull her dress down. "May I?" he asked as he started to push it down off her shoulders.

She bit her lip and nodded. "Yes, of course." She was a little less sure of that once her top half was exposed and his hands were exploring her bare skin, not because she was afraid but because she was nearly overwhelmed. She kissed him again to distract herself from how intensely she was reacting to him when he finally made it back to her breasts.

His nimble fingers carefully explored her reactions. She didn't react as well as he'd hoped to his touches, so he gently broke their kiss to leave a light trail of kisses down to her breasts, hoping that the softness of his lips and tongue would be more pleasing to her.

"You don't have to do that," she said in a tight little voice.

"Is it unpleasant for you?" he asked with genuine curiosity.

She smiled sheepishly. "No, just very intense."

He eyed her critically for a moment while he traced circles around her areola, then said, "Am I the first to do this for you?" Again his curiosity was genuine, not judgemental.

"Jotun men consider it demeaning to use their mouths in such a way," she managed.

"Then lucky for you, lovers in Asgard take pride in their ability to please their partners in as many ways possible," he haughtily replied.

What struck her more than the cultural difference was how easily he now called her his lover and partner.

He saw how endeared she was and it made him feel awkward, so he opted to continue what he was doing instead. However, she was wiggling and squirming so much even from just the lightest flicks of his tongue, that before long, he had to move further up onto the bed. His first thought was to lay her down and tease her from above. Tactically, it was the soundest option for both of them, but he didn't want to put her beneath him, so instead, he kicked off his shoes and made his way to sit at the head of their bed with his back resting comfortably against the fluffy pillows stacked there. As he moved, he didn't break contact with Myrkr. He kept a sure grip on her hand at the very least, and guided her to sit straddling his lap. Before she did that, however, she took the liberty of slipping the rest of the way out of her dress, as it was even more uncomfortable bunched up around her midsection than it was to wear properly. Along her way, she managed to pull the curtain around their bed part of the way shut.

Once she was in place, he got back to what he was doing, wrapping his arms around her waist to keep her from falling. This new position also made it so her legs were open and with his face so close to her he could smell her building arousal. Her scent stoked something primal within him, something that he'd never felt with any of his other lovers, and before he realized what was happening, he was sucking on her nipples and she was making some very interesting sounds, many of them very loud.

When she practically screamed, he finally remembered himself enough to relent, and when he looked up he was rewarded with the most desperately erotic expression he'd ever seen. Myrkr's half-lidded eyes were intensely dilated, and her red irises seemed to have darkened. Her skin was coated in a light sheen of sweat that seemed to make her glow in the dim candle light of their bedroom, and her mouth hung open, allowing her panting breath to be easily heard.

It took her a moment to realize he was staring at her. When she did, she grabbed his face. "You are a wicked man," she said in a husky voice as she went in for a kiss. Loki groaned into her mouth as he brought one hand up to play with her now protruding nipple. He hadn't even realize that it had popped out until he touched it with his fingers, but when he did, he hastily broke their kiss to see if he could do the same to her other nipple.

Shortly after that, and without thinking about it, Myrkr's hips started rocking while her hands frantically pulled his hair and clawed at his shoulders. "Ah, Loki," she panted when she started to feel a strange pressure building within her. It made her whole body tingle and her belly feel tight.

He misunderstood her desire for his attention as an impassioned outburst and redoubled his efforts both with his mouth and his gently tweaking fingers. Without thinking, he even used the hand bracing the small of her back to assist the rhythm of her rocking hips.

"Nnnngh, Loki," she tried again. It seemed like she was starting to experience tunnel vision and instinctively shut her eyes to block it out, but that only made the sensations she was experiencing feel more intense. Before she could make another bid for his attention, her body started to pulse and shake as she screamed unintelligible things. It was the best feeling she'd ever had and it was so intense that it scared her.

As quickly as she peaked, she began to come down. "Loki, please, stop," she breathlessly pleaded.

That got through to him and he leaned back to see the strange expression on her face. It was an odd mix of bliss and fear. "What is it, darling?" he asked.

"What's happened to me?" she asked in a small voice.

He looked at her strangely. "What do you mean?"

"I've never felt like that before. It was intense and exciting and a little scary. I didn't feel like myself for a few seconds there. What did you do to me?" she questioned. "Did you cast some kind of spell?"

He tried not to laugh at her. "It's not supposed to be scary, but I suppose if that's never happened before, it could be."

"What did you do?" she asked again, this time a little more forcefully.

"You climaxed," he said plainly.

Myrkr drew herself up a bit to look him in the face. She blinked a few times as she processed what he told her. "But you were just-" she began but stopped suddenly because she wasn't really sure what to say.

"Well, darling, I wasn't the only one doing things," he replied, motioning down to his lap.

Myrkr thought she was going to die of embarrassment. She'd been so caught up in what he was doing that she didn't realize she's been rubbing herself against him almost the entire time she was in his lap, as evidenced by the large wet spot she'd left on the front of his pants. She stared at it for a long moment, trying to reconcile the idea that she had been able to create such a large spot by herself, until she saw what lay beneath the wet fabric. Clearly outlined under the spot was Loki's anxious erection, straining against it's bonds. She looked back up at him. "Oh, I see," was about all she could manage at first, but then she said, "I still think you bewitched me," she playfully accused.

Loki smirked. "How do you feel now?" he asked earnestly. He was eager to continue, but not at the expense of her comfort.

His genuine concern made her heart skip a beat. "Very good. And yourself?" she asked, her eyes flicking down to his lap again.

"As you've noticed, I am very excited," he chuckled.

"What can I do for you?" she proposed hopefully.

"How about I let you finish what you started earlier," he tried.

Myrkr nodded and slipped out of his lap, pulling his pants down as she retreated. She kept contact with him at all times, unwilling to let him change back to his enchanted appearance before they were finished. Once he was naked before her, she rested a hand on his ankle and looked him over.

Loki had always enjoyed the admiration of his lovers, but the intense and discerning gaze of this woman made him blush a little, something that hadn't happened since he was young and inexperienced. Myrkr could hardly believe her eyes when she saw him shift a little under her scrutiny, and it made her bold. She leaned over and started a trail of kisses starting at his right ankle. As she moved upward from there, she paid careful attention to which places gave her the best reactions. Apparently his knees were fairly sensitive, so she lifted his leg and planted another couple of kisses on the sensitive underside of his joint.

Loki groaned softly at her exploratory attentions, especially when she continued upward from there until she was faced with his erection. He was about to tell her not to worry about that for now when she leaned up with a curious look on her face and kiss that part of him too. She giggled when it jerked in response, so she did it again. Then, when she saw him dripping thick clear beads of precum, she licked one up, then another, then another.

It took all of his self control to keep his hips down on the bed while she experimented with his body, especially when he realized that her saliva left a cool, tingling feeling on his skin. "Nnngh, darling," he said as evenly as he could.

"Hm?" she distractedly prompted, stopping short of brushing her lips over the soft hair covering his testicals.

He almost slapped himself for stopping her. "Please don't take this the wrong way, but this is almost torturous teasing," he playfully complained.

She cocked an eyebrow, looked up at his face, then back down at his member. "Tell me what you want," she finally said.

Loki almost winced at the torrent of images that flashed through his mind. He managed not to do that, but another part of him definitely reacted.

She laughed softly as she licked up the next few drops that beaded from his cock. "You've got ideas. I wish you were always this easy for me to read," she mused.

"What'd be the fun in that?" he tried to joke but the end of his question turned into something more similar to a moan. "Ah-haha," he laughed anxiously as his fingers dug into the pillows at his sides. "I don't suppose you would mind doing a bit more with your mouth," he tried.

"You trust me quite a lot," she mused before licking him from base to tip, slowly increasing pressure as she moved upward.

"If you were going to bite my cock off, you probably would have by now," he tensely joked.

Myrkr smirked, then made an, "Mmmm," sound as she swirled her tongue around the head as it started to emerge from his foreskin.

Loki felt his hips jerk. "Are you sure you've never done this before?" he barely asked, the cool tingle of her saliva threatening to overwhelm his sense.

"I would have told you if I had," she answered curtly before using the tip of her tongue to tease the beading slit of his swollen head. "Besides, from the way you're acting, I'm beginning to think this is the first time you've been on the receiving end," she taunted.

He didn't appreciate her challenging his prowess or experience, but it was difficult to argue with someone who was threatening to completely undo him with so little. "I can assure you that this is not my first time, but there is something about your mouth that is driving me wild, so please," he nodded down to her in the hope that would be enough to make her proceed.

If his words hadn't been enough, the tone of his voice and the look on his face certainly would have done the job. "Guide me," she requested in a quiet voice as she opened her mouth and started to slowly take him in.

He did, but not right away. At first, he had to adjust to the feeling of her mouth engulfing him. The texture of her tongue seemed to accentuate the strangely titillating feeling her saliva caused on his skin. Another thing he had to get used to was the temperature of her mouth. Oral sex in the past had consisted of enjoying the hot, wet, articulations of someone else's mouth. She actually felt a couple degrees cooler than she should have, something that he thought should put him off, but in his current form, he couldn't help enjoying.

He was eventually able to become accustomed to all of that and carefully lace the fingers of his right hand in her long, flowing black hair. She made a soft, "Mmm," sound at the feeling, and he almost lost himself, having to bit his lip rather hard to keep from it.

Loki slowly increased her speed and toward the end, even pushed her down a little further than he thought she might be comfortable with. It wasn't the most comfortable feeling to have his cockhead pressing against the back of her throat, but the sounds he made in response to that feeling made it worth it. He held her on him for the duration of his orgasm, feeling her try to gather and swallow all he had to offer, before he guided her up to kiss him.

She was surprised that he wanted to kiss her after that, but there was no way she was going to argue.

"Thank you," he whispered, pressing a kiss into the top of her head as he held her close.

"I enjoyed it, and you actually taste very good," she mused, again giving into the urge to lightly run her fingers over his nipples as she watched his member soften and lay limp against his thigh. She was so distracted by these things that she didn't notice him reaching down between her legs until he had run his fingers through her slit, making her make a little squeak of aroused surprise. She was about to ask why he did that, but when she looked back up at his face, he was tasting his fingers. She waited with bated breath to see what he would say.

Loki didn't say anything. He smirked, pushed her down onto her back, and moved down between her thighs. As an afterthought, he grabbed one of their many overstuffed pillows and slipped it under her backside before finishing the job of closing their curtain.

"Wha-ah-ah-" was as far as she got into asking what he was doing before he licked the length of her slit from bottom to top.

"My dear, you're already shaking," he said in a low, smooth voice as he gently stroked her thigh.

If she said anything in response to that, he didn't hear her because he was overtaken by her scent. He buried his nose in her pubic hair as his tongue ran slow, little circles around the little hood that stuck out of the top of her slit. He assumed it's purposed based on how similar it appeared to what lay between Asgardian women's thighs, and if her bucking moan was anything to go by, he was right.

Though, her sounds of pleasure seemed a bit distant as he drew in a deep breath through his nose. It took him a little while to place it, but he eventually realized that she smelled like the first frost of winter wrapped up in the musky scent of a woman in heat. Just that smell made him want her more badly than anything before as he moved down to stick his tongue inside her as far as it would go. A newly awakened force within him told him that he had to taste her as fully as he could.

It was the most bizarre thing he'd ever encountered. It was as though she was hot and cold at the same time, like some kind of supernatural fire of ice, and he couldn't wrap his mind around it. He pushed deeper, harder until he felt her fingers tangle in his hair. That was what first brought him back to reality. His heart skipped a beat when he felt her pull. For half a second, he worried that he'd gotten carried away and that she was trying to stop him.

On the contrary. Once he could hear a little better again, he recognized that her vocalizations had coalesced into cries for more and the pulling he felt was her anxious grip as she tried to guide him back up to the swollen little hood of flesh just above where he had been so desperately working. A short time later, her body tensed, and she started shaking. She made a series of heated, animalistic sounds before going slack. Without thinking, she used her grip on his hair to pull him up onto her. She licked his face clean before kissing him passionately.

"So," he said as he settled in next to her. "It really was me all along?"

She rolled her eyes. "Don't be stupid. Of course it was you."

"But you let Thor kiss you," he pouted.

She made a soft sound of contentment because although his tone wasn't exactly pleased, she appreciated the way his lightly ran his fingers over her stomach while they cuddled. "He kissed me before I even realized what was happening. I only put him to bed like that because he said that's what you usually do, and you weren't there to do it," she explained. Then she remembered something. "You told him I taste like mint."

He looked at her with a sheepish smile. "They were bothering me about why you never stay for dessert."

"At least you understand. I don't do it to be rude. It seems more rude to stay and not eat it then to just avoid the situation entirely," she reasoned.

He nodded. "You can be rude if you want, though. I would love to see Fandral's face if you stood up to him, not that he's ever disrespectful in your presence."

"I don't really know what he said that was so bad, but he apologized for it when I ran into them on my way to the vault," she shrugged. "I'm really not worried about what he thinks."

"Do you want to know what he said?" he offered.

"Not really. I know it was bad enough to make you turn his cake to shit. That's good enough for me. I never realized you were so ready to defend my honor," she teased.

He cocked an eyebrow and put on his best arrogant prince face, though it didn't play as well with his Jotun features. "I was defending _my_ honor," he haughtily corrected.

She laughed at him and gave him a playful slap on the arm. "If you say so. Either way, it's of no consequence to me, except..." she trailed off.

"Except what?" he pressed.

"Even though we shared these moments, you're still going to be cold to me in front of others, aren't you?" she asked.

He was surprised that she didn't sound hurt or accusing. "I hadn't really thought about it," he dodged.

"I think it would be better that way. If people think we've cozied up, they might expect more public displays of affection," she reasoned.

"So, our physical love is to remain a secret? Intriguing. Though, Thor saw us genuinely embrace. It is unlikely he could keep that to himself," he warned.

"He is likely too drunk to really remember," she reminded.

"We will see," he sighed.

A short while later, they were asleep. Both considered getting cleaned up a bit as they drifted off, but neither was willing to let their first moment of real togetherness end before it was absolutely necessary.


	6. Resolution

Thor came to his brother's chambers late the following morning. Actually, it was more like afternoon, but he was still too hungover to care.

Loki and Myrkr were awake when there was a knocking on their door, though they were still laying in bed together savoring the moment held over from the night before. They looked at each other, but neither moved.

"Who is it?" Loki called to the servant now bustling around their chamber gathering discarded clothing and used dishes.

She went to check. "It is Prince Thor, my Lord," she replied.

"What does he want?" Loki called back.

"I want to speak with my brother and sister-in-law," Thor said as he came into the sitting room.

The servant hurried back into the bedroom. "Your brother has let himself in," she told them.

"That is fine. Finish what you were doing, and you may leave," Loki dismissed.

"Yes, my Lord," she bowed and quickly gathered everything in a large wicker basket and hurried out.

"Loki, Myrkr," Thor called from the sitting room.

"We are in here," Loki replied irritably.

"I know where you are. I would appreciate it if you came out to speak with me," he snapped.

"And we'd like to stay where we are," Loki dismissively teased.

Thor groaned in frustration and entered the bedchamber. He had been expecting to see them lying in bed together, which was why he was pleasantly surprised when whatever could have been seen of that was covered by a large, dark curtain.

"What did you want to talk about?" Loki prompted.

The large blond took a deep breath to gather his thoughts, only then noticing the odd musk that lingered in the air. It took him a moment to realize that it was the smell of sex because apparently Jotun sex smelled a bit different, somehow cold and dark. "I wanted to apologize for my behavior last night. I was drunk, though that is no excuse. I hope you can forgive me," he managed.

The couple behind the curtain laughed softly. There was a bit of whispering, then Loki said, "Come here," Loki requested.

Thor was unsure, but since he was there to make amends, he figured it would be best to go along with it.

Once his brother was standing at the side of his bed, Loki asked. "What else do you remember about last night?"

Thor had been doubting if the bizarre argument and kiss that followed as he was passing out had been real or something his inebriated brain had dreamed up, but when he entered their bedroom and realized what the lingering scent there was, his doubts began to disappear. "I remember you and Myrkr arguing then kissing," he tried.

"Do you remember what we were arguing about?" Loki pressed curiously.

"Not really. Just that you were angry that she let me kiss her, and she called you slow," he managed. "Is everything alright? I didn't mean anything by it. I promise it won't ever happen again," he vowed.

He reached around the curtain and drew it back just enough to reveal them to him. "We've decided to forgive you," he said with a cocky smirk when he saw how red his brother's face became at the sight of them lying naked together, their cool blue bodies partially intertwined.

"Thank you," Thor awkwardly replied.

"Under one condition," he stipulated.

"What's that?" he asked, forcing himself to keep looking at their faces to keep his eyes from wandering elsewhere.

Pulling back their curtain had another unintended side effect. Myrkr could see just how far into their day they were. "Oh, wow. Sorry, I really need to get up and get going," she said, slowly pulling away from her husband.

"What for?" Loki nearly pouted.

"I was invited to an afternoon picnic by your mother and some of the other women," she informed.

"Very well," Loki sighed and let her go.

Thor tried not to stare at her as she scampered off to their bathroom, which was easier than he first thought because he got distracted by watching his brother's appearance change back to the one he was more accustomed to. "What is your condition?" he asked, trying not to sound too impatient.

Loki's expression grew serious as he stood and got out of bed, taking a moment to find a clean pair of pants before continuing their conversation, which relieved Thor greatly. "You will speak of it to no one, not last night nor today. None of it ever happened. Are we clear?"

Thor looked at him questioningly. "But why? If you and Myrkr have finally-" he began but Loki cut him off.

"Don't even bother finishing that sentence. As far as everyone outside of our chambers is concerned, nothing between us has changed," Loki informed.

The older brother sighed. "I will do what you ask, but why wouldn't you want people to know that you really do care for your wife? People will be happy for you," he tried.

Loki frowned. "_People_ do not understand the true nature of our relationship. Now, do as I've asked or I will make sure _people_ know your lust for your brother's Jotun wife. I wonder how quickly they would start to assume that your previous lust to battle the Jotuns was really a lust for their women?"

"Loki!" Thor nearly shouted.

Before the younger brother could continue, his wife returned. "Husband," she called, her tone sounding utterly disinterested.

"Yes?" he replied.

"Help me with this tie," she requested, turning around so that he could see that the laces that ran down her back were undone.

"Don't you have handmaidens for that sort of thing?" he tartly replied.

"I do, but I was under the impression that this was a private conversation," she chided.

Loki smirked and did what was asked of him. He was tempted to tie it a little too tightly, as she complained that her servants often did, but decided against it.

"Thank you," she said with a small bow and returned to their wardrobe to tie up her hair. It was autumn, but the days were still too hot for her.

"You will not spread such lies about me," Thor said in a low, dangerous voice once she was gone.

"Then you will do as I have asked and not spread the truth about us," Loki countered.

Thor sighed. "If that is your wish, but I hope you realize that it hurts both your reputations to be so cold to her in front of others," he advised.

Myrkr returned again. "Such warmth is uncomfortable to me. I prefer the cold," she said, looking out the window at what she was sure everyone else would consider a beautiful autumn day, though both of the brothers understood that she was speaking about more than the weather. Then, she turned back to them. "Thor, would you be so kind as to escort me to the castle gates. I would rather not keep your mother and the others waiting."

With that, they were gone, leaving Loki to prepare for the day in much appreciated peace.

Myrkr's picnic with the other women was more pleasant than she expected. Although it was hot, the conversation was light and pleasant. She was even asked, with genuine hopefulness rather than morbid curiosity, if she would cool their drinks for them, which she was more than happy to do with only the slightest bit of unease. She knew that if any of her kin knew she was doing such a thing, she would be considered a disgrace, since she was there to represent the autonomy of Jotunheim not serve as an interesting diversion for the courtly women.

They ate and chatted for the better part of two hours before the Queen had other matters to attend to. She thanked her guests and took her leave. Most everyone else left shortly after that, leaving Myrkr alone with Sif in the meadow by the stream. Over the last month or so, she and the warrior woman had become rather close. In actuality, Sif was very quickly becoming Myrkr's closest friend.

"How have things been with you and Loki?" Sif asked as they lay in the shade of one of the largest trees Myrkr had ever seen.

If it was anyone else asking, she would have been offended. "As well as to be expected," she replied neutrally.

Sif frowned.

"What's the matter?" Myrkr asked, rolling onto her side to look at her friend's face.

"Please don't take this the wrong way, but I feel a bit bad for you. I can't help feeling like he's taking his frustrations about his inability to control his situation out on you," she said as carefully as she could. "It all seems a bit cruel."

Myrkr offered a placating smile. "He may be a bit cold, but he's not cruel. Saying he's cruel implies that he's wronged me, which he's been very careful not to do," she reasoned.

"He's passive aggressive, and the only compliments he gives you are backhanded. It is not the way a husband should treat his wife," she lectured.

The Jotun woman laughed. "What you are describing is a marriage based on the mutual affection between two consenting parties. What Loki and I have is a political alliance that is mutually beneficial to our people's."

"He should understand that you are just as much a victim of circumstance as he is," she weakly persisted.

"He does," she dismissed.

Sif felt stymied.

"You think he should be affectionate, that he should try to honestly care for me, to become emotionally invested in me," she presumed.

"I would think that would be a good step for both of you," Sif tried.

"Do you think our relationship, as it is, is unhealthy?" Myrkr asked honestly.

Sif was not exactly comfortable answering such a direct question. "I don't think it's unhealthy, but don't you think you would be happier that way?"

The Jotun woman shrugged. "I am quite content with things as they are. I am treated very well here. I want for nothing. It would be greedy of me to expect more than I've already gotten," she easily replied.

The other woman grew quiet. "I'm sorry," she said after a long moment. "You're right."

That made Myrkr smile. "It is very warm out. Would it be okay if we went swimming in the stream?" she proposed hopefully.

Sif sat up and looked around. "There is no one around to say otherwise," she replied impishly.

They pulled the blanket they'd been laying on closer to the bank and stripped down. After a brief moment to awkwardly stare at one another, they waded into the water. Sif found it a bit cold at first, but she was urged on by how quickly Myrkr practically dove in.

"Oh, goodness, this is wonderful," the Jotun woman said with a sigh of relief.

They floated and soaked for a while before they really started talking again.

"If you were in my position, would a romantic relationship be preferable to you?" Myrkr asked awkwardly.

"It's not really my place to say," Sif dodged.

"Please? You are the closest thing I have to a friend. I may disagree with you, but I would never hold your opinions about such things against you," she pleaded.

"Well," Sif said as she thought. "Hypothetically," she began and then thought of something. "We are talking about a romantic relationship with Loki, right? Or just anyone?" she hedged.

Myrkr giggled. "With Loki."

It took Sif a long time to answer. "Now that I think about it, I've never seen or heard of Loki having romantic feelings for anyone, though that's not really surprising. He does tend to keep things like that to himself. I suppose if he meant it, it would at least be interesting," she managed.

Myrkr looked at her for a moment. "You've been with him before, haven't you?" she asked curiously.

The lack of aggression or accusation in the other woman's voice took Sif off guard. She actually sounded genuinely curious about the idea. "I-um.. Well, you see-" she stammered for a moment.

"It's okay if you have," Myrkr said with a confident sort of disinterest. "He's been very honest with me about his history. I mean, he's been polite enough not to mention names, but I know he had quite a number of lovers before he married me," she reasoned. "Were you one of them?"

Sif blushed deeply. "We were together once, while we were both fairly drunk. While it wasn't bad, we both decided that it would be best if we didn't try anything like that again."

"Oh? Why's that?" the Jotun woman pressed.

She laughed nervously. "Don't get me wrong. He wasn't rude to me or anything. I'm not really a fan of the little games he likes to play, but even those aren't so bad from time to time," she managed.

Myrkr studied her again. "You care for someone. Is that why it is hard to imagine being involved with someone else?"

Sif's eyes grew wide. That was the second time that it seemed Myrkr had been able to read her mind, not realizing that she had just spent so long taking mental notes on how Loki was able to read people that she had picked up a thing or two. "How did you-?" she was about to ask when she was interrupted.

"It's Thor, isn't it?" she suddenly said. Judging by the bright red shade of her friend's skin, she was right. "No wonder you don't want to think about Loki that way, them being brothers and all. Don't worry, I won't say anything, though with the way you look at him sometimes, I'd be surprised if someone else hadn't noticed by now," she teased.

"This isn't funny," Sif scolded.

"You're just embarrassed. You shouldn't be. I think he has a certain preference for you as well," she winked. "And really, a relationship like that is something that people here can really root for, something they will genuinely appreciate and enjoy seeing."

Sif winced a little at the comparison.

"Something that would distract them from me," she muttered.

"The people are starting to warm up to you. It's just taking a while because you're so different," Sif reasoned.

"I know why it's taking a while, and it's not something I'm really very interested in accelerating. My purpose is served whether the public likes me or not," she dismissed. "Anyway, what was Loki like when you two were together?" she suddenly reverted back to their previous conversation.

Sif rolled her eyes. "I already told you. We were both drunk. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't terribly good either," she laughed. She thought for a moment. "If I remember right, he wanted me to do most of the work. I don't know if he was like that with others, but he seemed to want to just lay back and enjoy himself. Maybe you're better off not being romantic with him, if he's always like that."

Myrkr smirked. "He's not."

Her friend did a double take. "Wait. I thought you said you weren't..." she trailed off, not quite sure how to continue.

"You're not the first person I've talked to about this sort of thing," she giggled.

"Who else?" She was almost afraid to ask.

"Well, for one, there are a number of servants who are willing to share their experiences. They were a little scared to talk to me at first, but I've made a fair number of friendly acquaintances by asking about what my husband is like in bed. I think they felt bad for me, and some of them exaggerated a bit, but it was all for the sake of making things entertaining for me," she reasoned.

Sif's brow furrowed. "I don't know how you feel about this sort of thing, but if you really want to know what he's like, then why not try to get him to show you? Asking around like that seems...wrong somehow."

Myrkr gave a dismissive hand motion. "Have you seen the way he looks at me when he can even stand to look at me?"

To Sif's surprise, Myrkr didn't sound hurt by that. If their positions were reversed, she was certain that she wouldn't be able to handle being married to someone who could hardly look at her, especially if they were in a land filled with people who were only just beginning to get somewhat used to having her around. It was in that moment that she really started to appreciate the other woman's strength.

The pause after her question was so long that Myrkr just let it go. They got out of the stream a short while later and laid in the warm shade of the large tree again to dry off before redressing.

"I didn't mean to make you feel awkward. You shouldn't feel bad for me either," the Jotun woman said surely.

"I'm sorry. I just don't know how to react when people say things like that," she confessed.

"It's okay. Just be yourself. I like that you don't put on airs for me or try to lie to make me feel better," she reasoned. "I just appreciate that you listen to me and take me seriously and that you're not scared of me."

Sif smirked. "You're not scary."

"I could freeze your skin off without really trying," Myrkr countered playfully.

Sif scoffed. "I'd kick your ass way before you even got the chance."

A few seconds later, they were wrestling, playfully fighting for some kind of imagined dominance and uncontrollably laughing all the while. It was the most absurdly fun thing that either of the women had done in a very long time.

Unbeknownst to them, their private little party had not gone unnoticed. When Loki saw his mother and the other women return without his wife, he wondered what happened. In spite of himself, he was actually a little worried about her, though he knew his mother wouldn't leave her in a dangerous situation. Just the same, he went out to one of the balconies that overlooked the meadow they had been picnicking in.

It took a fair bit of concentration to maintain the spell to let him see her from so far away, but he had nothing else to do. He wasn't surprised to find her spending her free time with Sif. He had noticed them growing closer over the last few weeks, though he did wonder what they were talking about. He was a decent lip reader, but doing that while concentrating so hard was rather difficult, given that he was offered the proper angle to do so in the first place.

He smirked a little and began to wonder if his wife knew she was being observed when the pair of women stripped down and started swimming. They both had a certain sort of beauty and grace to them that he could appreciate. He smiled to himself when they got out and laid down to dry, rolling over occasionally to let the water evaporate from their exposed skin.

His appreciation of their exposure, as well as the contents of his pants, shifted when they started wrestling, which was why his heart skipped a beat when someone walked up next to him and started talking.

"Loki?" Fandral said carefully. It appeared his friend was lost in thought, a state in which interruptions were not generally appreciated.

Loki did his best to hold in his reaction. He was accustomed to being caught doing things that weren't exactly proper, and as such, he was also quite good at covering up whatever he'd been up to without others noticing. "Yes?" he managed with only a slight strain in his voice.

"I wanted to apologize for my behavior last night. What I said, it was uncalled for," he offered.

"Yes it was," Loki agreed. "But I accept your apology."

Fandral smiled a little as he sighed with relief. "All things considered, she isn't the worst companion one could have. At least she seems to understand that you have no interest in her beyond the political alliance," he tried.

Loki sighed with irritation and let go of the spell. Myrkr had just gained the upper hand, though it didn't appear it would last. "You were doing well right up until you started speaking again." Then he walked away.

"Loki, wait," Fandral called after him.

The prince paused and looked back at his friend. "Don't worry about it. Just keep being a gentleman when it is required. I only find it irritating that you feel the need to speak so frankly about this with me, otherwise you've done nothing wrong," he said and then was gone.


	7. Consummation

Over the next couple of weeks, things continued as they had. The only difference was that Loki and Myrkr were only acting cold and disinterested in one another for the sake of appearances. Loki wasn't sure Myrkr would be able to pull it off, mostly because she had, since the very beginning, been the most outwardly affection one between them. In actuality, the couple found the whole situation to be rather amusing, sometimes downright fun. They even developed covert methods of flirting that went unnoticed or were even misinterpreted by those around them.

For example, one night at a rather large banquet, the couple sat side by side, as they usually did, but they kept from looking directly at one another. However, Myrkr had mastered the art of making the air around her drop several degrees for brief intervals, something that always got Loki's attention. In return, he would gently brush his hand against her leg under the table, an act that almost never failed to make her blush just the slightest bit. Sometimes, she would be able to slip a few drops of mint oil into his food or drink while they were eating. When he tasted it, he would have to make a conscious effort to keep his eyes from rolling. Once he'd recovered enough to not make a fool of himself, he would give her a dangerous sidelong glance, his lips curling up a bit.

That particular evening, Myrkr found it most amusing to idly run her fingers up and down her throat, making the little hairs on the back of Loki's neck stand on end. In return, he started a conversation about how he was looking forward to the heat of summer to break and how good the hunting would be once things cooled down a bit and the wild animals were more active.

By the time the banquet was over, they were more than ready to leave. To hide their excitement, and to further divert attention from themselves, they left separately. Loki left first and without consulting Myrkr. A few of the other guests took note of this and felt bad for the Jotun woman, even though she seemed unphased by her husband's rudeness. A short time later, she excused herself and went back to their chambers.

As soon as she entered the room, she heard the door shut and lock behind her. It startled her long enough for Loki to appear in front of her, making her gasp and jump back a bit. Her genuine surprise made Loki grin, and he quickly closed the distance between them by grabbing her and holding her tightly against him.

"Ah, Loki," she gasped when their bodies became flush.

He gave a low chuckle and backed her up against the wall. Once she was held there, he entwined their hands and began kissing and nipping at her neck while his true appearance emerged.

Myrkr groaned and pushed back against him. It was only recently that he had taken to being so aggressive, but there was so much affection behind his actions that she found herself enamored by it. Of course, it didn't hurt that he had taken care to learn exactly what pleased her the most, which things titillated, teased, and outright aroused her. He took great pride in being able to make her knees weak with only a certain string of words or brushing his lips across a particularly sensitive patch of skin.

When his knee slipped between her legs, she moaned even louder than either of them expected. The volume of her own voice startled Myrkr and brought some of her sense back. "You know," she giggled as his off hand massaged her hip, "our secret won't last long with as loud as you make me when we're alone together."

"My dear," he said, trailing his lips up the side of her neck to whisper in her ear, another thing that seemed to make her come completely unhinged in the best possible way. "Since adolescence, I have never stayed in a room that was not enchanted with silence. I have personally assured that no one can hear the things that are said or done in our chambers," he promised.

She gave him a strange look and then shook her head in exasperation. "I should have known." It was so hard to speak properly with his lips brushing against the outer shell of her ear, the low vibration of his voice sending shivers down her spine. When his teeth started to tug on her earlobe, she couldn't take it anymore.

Loki felt a burst of cold energy, and the next thing he knew, he was flat on his back with her pulling at his clothes. It took him a moment to realize that she had iced over the floor and used the lack of friction between that and his dress shoes to knock him over. Once his shirt was up, he could feel the thin sheet of ice beneath him, and he couldn't help groaning. She made it as far as unlacing his pants before he grabbed her and pulled her up to face him again. He had something to say, but he just ended up rolling them over and kissing her hungrily.

Myrkr groaned when he laid down on top of her, pinning her with his weight as she writhed beneath him. "Loki, my love," she gasped when he broke away long enough to remove her dress. "Tonight, please," she practically pleaded.

Loki smiled. He knew exactly what she was talking about. They had done a fair number of things together since their first night of intimacy, but they had yet to actually have sex. It wasn't that he didn't want to, but he wanted it to be her idea. He wanted her to be the one to suggest it. It was the only way he felt confident that she would be ready.

However, that, like so many other things, quickly became a game for him. His decision not to broach the subject or even allow his erect length near her womanhood morphed into something else. At first, she appreciated what he was doing, and she didn't feel bad about his holding back on her account because they both always ended up satisfied by the end of the night. The last couple of nights were different. She had been on the verge of requesting sex, the words literally on the tip of her tongue, but he always managed to keep her in such an erotically incapacitated state that she was incapable of making her request until she was so sated that she couldn't think of anything more than cuddling up next to him and falling asleep. This time, she made sure to say it while she had the chance.

"Tonight what?" he prompted knowingly.

Myrkr rolled them back over and sat straddling his lap. "You know what," she told him seriously.

"Please, tell me," he urged.

"I want you to do what you were expected to do our first night together. I want you to take me and make me yours in the most physical, primal way." She could see that what she was pleased him, but he didn't appear convinced, so she laid down on him and spoke directly into his ear. "I want you inside me. I want to feel you move and push between my legs. I ache for that feeling, and you are the only one who can ease that ache." She smirked when as she spoke because she could feel him physically reacting beneath her.

Without thinking, Loki growled and grabbed her hips, digging in his fingers. Her gasping moan was what brought him back to his senses. He searched her face for signs of apprehension in reaction to his visceral response to her words. He found nothing of the sort, only a burning need that seemed to light up her red eyes as she stared down at him.

"I-I don't want to hurt you," he said through gritted teeth.

She smirked. "You won't," she answered surely.

His brow furrowed, and he sighed, forcing himself to loosen his grip on her hips, even though she didn't seem to mind it. "You make me forget my better sense. Once we get going, I'm not sure I'll be able to control myself," he confessed.

She kissed him before standing up, making sure to keep at least a little bit of skin touching so that he would not change back to his Asgardian form. Standing over him with him prone between her legs made her feel as though she had a certain amount of power over their situation. "It's what I want," she said with as much authority as she could manage.

Loki had never really been the submissive type. He understood the appeal of letting someone else take control and assert themselves, but there had never been anyone he had been comfortable enough with to allow that to happen. Either his pride wouldn't allow it, or he simply didn't trust them. This was different. She had trusted him so deeply and so often that he couldn't help returning the feeling. He was still afraid of hurting her, but if she didn't think he would, then he felt compelled to believe her.

"Yes, my love," he finally said in an unusually small voice as he stared up at her. Her dark hair hung heavily around her shoulders while her hands rested on her hips. She had also taken up what was possibly the most powerful stance he had ever seen her take as she looked down at him with half-lidded eyes.

He found her captivating, which was why it took him a moment to realize when she held her hand out to him to help him to his feet. Once standing, they relocated to the bedroom where they quickly finished undressing before climbing into bed and pulling the curtain. They both knew it wasn't really a necessary precaution at the moment, but she always insisted, and Loki had given up on arguing with her on that point. As they laid down together, he reluctantly allowed her to pull him down on top of her.

"I would be more comfortable if you were on top," he told her as he ran his hands over her taut torso.

"You will hold me so surely that it will not matter," she replied.

He didn't like that answer, the implication that regardless of their positions, he would be able to overpower her.

"Cast the spell," she urged.

He gave her a look of incomprehension before realizing that she was referring to the contraceptive enchantment, which he was more than happy to cast.

"I want, no need to feel your strength. Use it to illustrate your conviction that you really do have passion for me," she told him as her legs began to wrap around him.

Loki groaned both at the feeling of her legs wrapping around him and the fact that the scent of her arousal grew infinitely more intense when her legs were open like that. His fingers dug into the blankets on either side of her head as he fought the urge to simply dive into her.

"Shhh," she eased, reaching down to his hard length to guide him toward her. Even if she hadn't already been excited when she entered their chambers, his desperate behavior and poorly repressed need for her would have made her wet. As it was, she could feel herself starting to drip with excitement. "You will make me feel better than anyone ever has," she told him when she could feel his swollen head at her slick entrance.

He shuddered at the sensation of her icy heat on the most sensitive part of his body. Looking down into her dark red eyes, he could see the conviction in her, which didn't wane when he started to slowly thrust into her.

Myrkr groaned as her head rolled back a bit. It had been a long time since anyone had been inside her. Loki had done what he could with his fingers, attention that she very much enjoyed, but even those were nothing in comparison to the girth that was now sliding into her. She could feel her womanhood stretching in an effort to accommodate him, but it was still uncomfortable. At the same time, though, it felt good and right, and she knew her discomfort wouldn't last forever.

To keep him from stopping short, she wrapped her legs more tightly around him and pulled him in the rest of the way until their bodies were flush and he could go no further. Their breath was already ragged as she held him tightly to her. When he tried to look into her face again, she grabbed him and kissed him.

Loki's eyes rolled. The taste of her mouth only seemed to heighten the feeling of being inside her, and it made him light headed. He had to break away almost as soon as their kiss turned deep. Panting above her, he looked down in an attempt to take stock of how she was faring. Seeing that she didn't appear to be in pain, he rolled his hips a bit. When she gave the slightest of winces, he stopped. "This is too much," he said, though he wasn't sure if he meant it was too much for her or for himself.

Myrkr grit her teeth and grabbed one of his hands and guided it to her breast. She groaned again when he took the guidance and began massaging. Just from that, he could feel her relax significantly, giving him confidence. Without a second though, the leaned down and began using his mouth as well as his hand to pleasure her breasts. The taste of her skin seemed to egg him on, and before he realized it, he was starting to withdraw. When only the head of his cock was inside her, he hesitated again.

"Yes," she urged. "Take me, make me yours."

Loki started to slowly push into her again. "So tight," he hissed.

Once he was fully inside her again, she rolled her hips, grinding her clit against his soft pubic hair, a sensation that made her tighten around him, and they both moaned deeply.

That was it. Any forethought or consideration either of them might have had was gone. Loki planted one hand by her head while his other moved to cradle the small of her back, his mouth never leaving her breasts. Myrkr grasped madly at whatever parts of him that she could reach, unconsciously digging her nails into his back and shoulders while her legs wrapped tightly around his waist.

Loki's pace gradually increased until he reached a steady rhythm that they could both enjoy. When he could sense that she was approaching orgasm, he looked up at her face again. While it was apparent to him that not all of her discomfort had left, it was also clear by the sound of her voice, the arch of her back, and the glazed look in her eyes that she was experiencing enough pleasure to outweigh that.

It made him smile as he leaned down to speak into her ear. "You are so absolutely magnificent like this. The sound of your voice, the taste of your skin, the smell of your icy heat, I cannot get enough. I need to feel you come undone. Take your pleasure from me," he told her in a breathy voice. He could feel the ripples of pleasure that his words provoked in her, and it made him thrust a little harder.

That did the trick. She came with a trembling moan, her body rolling in time with his rhythm as she spasmed with pleasure. When she started to come down from that high, he slowed a bit. Just knowing that he could bring her pleasure like that was enough to reign in his self control, if only for a short time, but what she did next made his heart sink down into his stomach.

"No, no, no," she groaned. "D-Don't..."

He stopped.

His lack of motion made her eyes focus sharply on him. "Don't stop now," she scolded fitfully.

The conviction in her voice and the stern look in her eyes made something in Loki's brain snap. Before he knew what was happening, he had already reared up onto his knees, taken hold of her hips, and began thrusting madly into her. When she came a second time, this peak accompanied by a series of fitful sounds, he lost it. He came hard inside her with a loud groan.

That blissful feeling eventually faded, and he could focus his vision on the woman lying prone before him. She looked a little disoriented, but the foolish little smile tugging at the corners of her lips eased whatever anxiety he felt as a result of his abandon. Lazily, she reached up and pulled him back down to her. The kiss they shared was long and slow, filled with appreciation and satisfaction, as they settled into a comforting cuddle that lasted nearly an hour.

"How do you feel?" he asked when he began cleaning them up.

She giggled a little. His touches were so gentle now that they tickled. "Very good. And yourself?"

He shook his head in disbelief. "You worried me there for a moment. You shouldn't say 'no' or 'don't' unless you want me to stop," he playfully lectured. "Otherwise, I've never felt better."

She twitched a little when he bent down between her legs to see for himself how she was faring. She was a bit swollen but not bleeding, so he gave her womanhood a light kiss and returned to her arms.

The following morning, she was reluctant to get out of bed. She was not usually one to lounge around and waste the day, but Loki figured that if there was any day that she deserved to do such a thing, it was the one after finally consummating their marriage. He stuck around for most of the morning until he had other matters to attend to, at which point he gave her a kiss and wished her a good day. He regretted that they couldn't spend the whole day together, but she insisted that he not let their personal feelings get in the way of his princely duties.

A little after noon, there was a knock on the door. After a moment of calling for servants, something that had taken her a while to get into the habit of and that she still wasn't quite used to, she realized that she was alone. With a sigh, she left her bed, wrapping a light robe around her as she went to answer the door. As she moved, her muscles felt tight and sore, and the throb between her legs made her hobble a bit. Though these feelings weren't exactly pleasant, they did make her smile just a little because of how incredible the cause had been.

To her surprise, Fandral and Volstagg were waiting on the other side of the door.

"Good afternoon," she said when she saw them.

The pair of men tried not to stare at her, but the way her thin robe was sliding down from her shoulder was quite had overheard servants talk of how the Jotun princess had a habit of lounging around her chambers in various stages of undress, which was why they had avoided paying any visits there until now. Volstagg had tried to ask Loki about Myrkr's propriety, but the prince dismissed him, saying that he couldn't care less what his wife did when she was in their chambers.

"Um, yes, good afternoon," Fandral said with a gentlemanly bow.

"Yes, yes, good afternoon, m'Lady," Volstagg clumsily followed suit.

She gave them an odd look and opened the door a little wider. "Would you like to come in?" she offered as she leaned against the door in an attempt to ease the pressure on the sore muscles of her core.

Without thinking, they did as she offered. Myrkr nodded and made her way over to the little table on the other side of the room where she sat down in one of the comfortable chairs and poured herself half a glass of wine.

"What can I do for you?" she asked when she noticed that they were staring at her.

"Well, actually, we were looking for Loki. Is he about?" Fandral inquired, trying to keep his concern in check. He had noticed the strain her her walk and the slight wince she gave when she sat down.

"I'm afraid he's out for the day. The Queen had a number of rather important matters she wanted him to attend to. Might I take a message for him?" she answered.

"Um, no," the blond managed. "That's alright. We we are going riding a little later today, and were simply wondering if he would care to join us. If he is otherwise engaged, then it is not something to bother him with."

She shrugged and took a sip of her wine. "Very well then."

"Thank you for your time," Fandral said with a slight bow.

When they saw that she was not going to see them out, Fandral turned to leave, but Volstagg couldn't help saying something.

"Princess, if I may," the large man began.

Fandral shot his friend a cautioning look but didn't say anything.

"Of course, what is it?" she prompted with a slight smile. Outside of her new family, Volstagg had been one of the few people who seemed to take a genuine liking to her.

"I hope I'm not out of place, but are you hurt?" he asked carefully.

"Hm?" she replied, cocking a curious eyebrow.

"It's just that, I hope you don't find me offensive for saying so, but I couldn't help noticing your limp," he pointed out.

Myrkr turned away to hide her blush. "It is nothing."

Her denial made both the men uncomfortable.

"Even if it is only a small thing, I would recommend going to the healing room," he suggested.

Fandral picked up from there. "Or if it would make you more comfortable, we could have a healer brought here for you," he offered.

She still didn't look at them. "I appreciate your concern, but there is nothing to worry about. Though, if you wouldn't mind, I am getting a bit hungry. Perhaps if you pass someone on your way out, you could let them know?" she dismissively replied.

They knew better than to push her more than that. "Of course, my Lady," Fandral conceded, and they both left.

After shutting the door behind them, the two men exchanged meaningful looks.

Fandral sighed. "Well, I suppose that answers one thing," he muttered.

Volstagg shot him a questioning look. "And what might that be?"

The smaller man looked around and seeing no one, started walking. The last thing he wanted was for Myrkr to open her door and hear what he was about to say. "Loki has been taking advantage of his marital privileges."

Volstagg had a feeling that was where their conversation was going, and it didn't make him happy. "You couldn't possibly be suggesting that he-" he stopped suddenly because he didn't even want to say it.

"You've seen them together as often as I have. You've heard the way he speaks of her. There is no love between them," Fandral insisted. "She is either too proud or too embarrassed to say something about it."

"Perhaps she does not think it is something she _can_ say something about, or even if it was, who would she turn to?" he reasoned.

Fandral thought for a moment. "Sif. They have grown quite close, and both being women, perhaps they could talk it over," he proposed.

Volstagg hesitated.

"What's the matter?" the smaller man asked impatiently.

"You know I would never support the sort of behavior that you are insinuating, but Loki is not going to be happy when he finds out we've been meddling in his affairs," the larger man pointed out.

"I know, but that is a risk I am willing to take," he emphatically replied.

"As am I, I just wanted to make sure we understood the risk. When this is all over, Myrkr may not be the only one with a limp," he grimly joked.


	8. Clarification

"You are mistaken," Sif insisted.

"You don't sound sure," Fandral pointed out.

"She..." she trailed off with a sigh. She didn't want to say it, but it seemed at this point, she would have to. "She told me herself. Loki doesn't have any physical interest in her."

Fandral scoffed. "Saying that would be much easier than admitting the truth."

"What makes you so sure? The accusation you're making isn't something trivial. It's not some kind of trickery. It's downright damning," she asserted.

Fandral took a moment to carefully explain the state they'd found Myrkr in and how she behaved when they asked her whether she was hurt. Unfortunately, during this, Thor entered the room they were speaking in.

"Who are you speaking of?" the blonde prince asked anxiously. He hated to hear of anyone suffering and the description he'd walked in on wasn't the most flattering.

No one wanted to say.

"Friends, tell me," he urged. "You know I would be more than happy to lend a hand to your cause."

Volstagg was the first to speak. "It's your sister-in-law," he managed.

Thor's brow furrowed. "If something's happened to her, then why are you all standing around here talking about it? Why haven't you told Loki?" He knew they hadn't because he had spent the better part of the day with his brother.

None of them could make eye contact.

"I'm sure it's some kind of misunderstanding," Sif interjected.

"A misunderstanding of what?" Thor demanded.

Sif and Volstagg looked to Fandral, since all this fuss was because of his insistence. He sighed. "We have reason to believe that Loki may be hurting Myrkr," he managed.

Thor was dumbstruck, a great frown fixing on his face. "And what reason would that be?"

Fandral quickly explained the situation again and how they were trying to convince Sif to go speak with her in an attempt to confirm their suspicions.

Thor almost screamed. He wanted to tell them that they were greatly mistaken, but the promise he'd made to the couple only weeks before kept him from that. "My brother would not rape his wife, or anyone else for that matter," he said in a low, dangerous voice.

Now that someone had said it aloud, they all felt a sick churning in the pits of their stomachs.

"I'll go talk to her. I know her best," Sif reasoned. "I'll find out what happened."

Thor stopped her. He considered the situation for a moment, then said, "Be discrete. Even if these wild accusations are true, they need to be dealt with reasonably," he advised.

"Of course," Sif agreed and then she was off.

The blonde prince tried not to glare at his friends for putting him in the position he was now faced with. "I will speak with Loki," he asserted. "Neither of you will breathe a word of this to anyone. In fact, it would probably be best if you didn't speak of it to one another any further for the time being. We will meet back here after dinner."

Fandral and Volstagg agreed and breathed a sigh of relief when they were once again alone. They exchanged meaningful looks but said nothing.

Sif gathered her thoughts as best she could while on her way to see her strange friend. She wasn't quite sure how to broach the subject she'd been charged with, but she had to try. She knocked and a servant answered the door for her.

"Ah, Lady Sif," Myrkr greeted with a smile. "It seems I'm getting all sorts of visitors today. To what do I owe the pleasure?" she asked from her seat near the window.

"May we speak in private?" she asked, her gaze flicking anxiously at the servant for a moment then back to the Jotun woman.

Myrkr grew concerned. "Of course," she agreed before dismissing her servant. "What is the matter?"

Now Sif felt very nervous. "Um, well, I just saw Fandral and Volstagg," she began, stopping for a moment to make sure of what she wanted to say.

"Oh, yes, they were here earlier looking for Loki. Do you know if they ever found him?" she diverted. She had a feeling that the conversation her friend wanted to have was going to be awkward and unpleasant and couldn't help trying to derail it before it began.

"Ah, no, when they found out he was busy, they didn't bother," she replied. "But when I saw them they said they were worried you were hurt. I tried to tell them it probably wasn't anything, but it made me worry. Are you alright?" she tried.

Myrkr rolled her eyes. "I'm quite fine, thank you," she replied as politely as she could.

"Are you sure? They said you were limping," she pressed.

Myrkr examined her friend. "What else did they tell you?"

Sif gave a small, nervous sort of laugh. "Not much, just that-" she stopped, having to swallow hard to try to get the next part out. "Just that the nature of your pain seemed to be of a very specific variety," she hedged.

The Jotun woman gave a sound of disgust. "I told them not to worry about it. Why do they even care anyway," she snapped, practically throwing down her book.

"They might be a bit brash, but they are kind hearted. They were afraid to press further for the sake of your privacy, but I was hoping perhaps you would tell me what happened. We've shared many intimate secrets, and I would help to ease their concern if I could tell them for certain that there is nothing to worry about," she reasoned.

"What do they think happened?" she asked. "Answer me that, and I might consider correcting them." She was fairly sure she knew what it was, but if accusations were being made, she wanted to know exactly what they were.

Sif shifted uncomfortably. "They were worried that perhaps Loki had been a bit rough with you," she hedged.

"Rough with me? You mean they thought he beat me?" she scoffed.

"Not exactly, that he had been rough with you in the bedroom," she managed.

Myrkr laughed grimly to herself. "I've told you the state of our bed."

"Yes, you've said that Loki has no sexual interest in you," she answered. "However, it is not unreasonable to think you would say that to cover for less admirable behavior," she reasoned.

"Do you think Loki is capable of such a thing? Of using force to have his way with me? Why would he even bother forcing me when there are plenty of women who are willing to entertain him? Do you really think he's that vindictive?" she questioned.

Sif stammered for a moment. "Better men have done worse things for many reasons. I'm not concerned about Loki or his potential motives. I just want to know if you are okay. If something did happen that you would rather keep a secret, I will respect that. It is your life, your relationship, but I am your friend, and I am concerned for you," she asserted.

That made a portion of Myrkr's smile return. "You are the best friend that I have in Asgard. Promise me you won't share with anyone what I am about to reveal to you," she bargained.

"Of course, whatever you want. I promise not to tell anyone," Sif assured.

"Promise me that you will tell your concerned friends that there really is nothing to worry about, no crime to prosecute, no wrong to make right," she continued.

"I promise," Sif answered.

Myrkr nodded and stood. "Follow me," she said as she moved into the bedroom.

Sif noticed that there was a slight strain to the other woman's gate, but didn't say anything about it. When, Myrkr motioned for her to have a seat on the edge of the bed, she hesitantly obliged.

The Jotun woman knelt down and reached beneath the bed skirt. She fished around for a moment before withdrawing a wooden box. "The reason I'm sore today is because I spent so much time entertaining myself. I guess I got a bit carried away," she reluctantly confessed. Taking a seat next to her friend, she opened the box, revealing a glass phallus and a book about sexuality.

"Is that...?" Sif trailed off, a hot blush rising to her cheeks.

"A gift from one of the women at the brothel just outside of town," Myrkr replied. That part was true, and she had read the book even if she had never mustered the courage to do much with the phallus. "I'm really not used to that sort of thing, and I got a bit overzealous, so you can understand why I wouldn't want to share that information with just anybody," she asserted.

"Yes, of course. I am so, so sorry. I should know better by now than to listen to those idiots," she said.

Myrkr smiled and closed the box, tucking it back under her bed. "Thank you for being so understanding and for your discretion. Something like this could be very embarrassing to talk about."

"Yes, yes it is," Sif nodded in agreement. She apologized again and left.

Thor took a somewhat more aggressive approach. He cornered Loki in the library after scaring off everyone else with a mere look of warning.

"Ah, dear brother," Loki sarcastically greeted. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Your little charade with Myrkr has gone too far. You need to treat her reasonably in front of others. The fact that you actually care for her cannot remain a secret," he angrily asserted.

"Oh? And why is that?" the dark-haired brother questioned curiously. "Is it really that difficult for you to keep that one little secret?"

Thor growled and banged his fist on the shelf next to them, knocking several books down in the process.

"You're going to pick those up, right?" Loki taunted.

The blonde grumbled and picked up the books, laying them on a nearby table in a stack. "Our friends are beginning to suspect that you treat her badly."

"Badly how?" The younger brother questioned, his curiosity now piqued.

Thor took a moment to quickly explain how Fandral and Volstagg had gone to his chambers in search of him but found a limping Myrkr instead.

"It is their fault for making assumptions," Loki dismissed. Thor was about to speak again but was cut off when Loki continued. "And so what if I was taking advantage of my marital privileges. It is not their place to meddle in my affairs."

"Loki," Thor nearly shook his brother. "Listen to yourself. We're not talking about being aloof or playing politics. They think you raped her and that she's too scared or ashamed to say anything about it. They think you're angry about your situation and taking it out on her because she doesn't have a way out."

Loki laughed in his face. "As I said, it is their fault for making assumptions," he repeated. "Honestly, I can't keep track of what they think of me. First they felt sorry that I had to marry a barbarian. Then, they said how honorable it was of me to marry a Jotun without making a big fuss about it. After that, they were sad about my indifference toward my new wife and the lack of intimacy between us. Some even went so far as to suggest that if we were intimate, that it would be uncomfortable and unsatisfying. Now, they think I've become some kind of aggressive, domineering monster. Are you beginning to see how tiresome it would be to keep up with all that?"

Thor sighed. "Would it really hurt anything to show that you really do care for Myrkr? She is your wife, and I know how you feel. Isn't it more tiresome to put on airs about all that?"

Loki's expression grew dark as he drew closer to his brother. He spoke in a quiet voice. "If we do that, then we will be expected to be more physically affectionate. It is bad enough that we are expected to dance together at certain events. It's like you've forgotten what I really am. It only takes one moment of physical contact to trigger the transformation. What will they think then? I can guarantee you that it will be a lot worse than what they think now."

Thor sighed. "I understand, but this isn't something that you can just ignore," he asserted.

Loki stepped back, accepting that his point had been made. "I will think about it."

Thor realized that was the best he was going to get, so he thanked his brother and left.

After a few moments of silence, Loki made a mental note of what he was doing and left the library. He was happy he left when he did because he happened upon his wife along the way. Immediately upon seeing her, he could tell she was drunk. Carefully, he corralled her into one of the less used corridors. With a glance of caution, he gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

"What are you doing out in such a state?" he asked with knowing exasperation.

She looked up at him with anger and hurt in her eyes. "Do you know what your _friends_ have been saying about us?"

Loki sighed. "Yes, Thor just spoke to me about it. Who confronted you?"

"Cowards," she hissed. "They sent Sif to talk to me."

"Where were you going?" he asked. If she was going to the vault, then he was more than willing to take her, but otherwise, he was going to try to get her back to their chambers.

"To give those two interlopers a piece of my mind," she snapped.

Loki kissed her again to calm her down. "Let's go have dinner. We can talk it over and decide what we want to do from there. Confronting them now, especially while drunk, is not going to help matters."

Myrkr sighed. She knew he was right and so agreed.

By the time Thor was finished with his dinner and went to meet with the others, as he had instructed, they were all already there. More than anything, he had been angry with Loki for not giving him something to tell them other than to back off, which left him feeling like he didn't have a leg to stand on. That was why he was both startled and pleased when he was immediately met with embarrassed apologies.

"So, you've come to your senses then?" he asked carefully.

"Yes, we are so, so sorry about everything. Sif cleared it all up. We should have known better," Fandral replied.

A short time later, Fandral and Volstagg left. Thor turned to Sif. "What happened? What did Myrkr tell you?"

Sif blushed. "It's personal. I promised not to say."

"You told them," Thor pointed out.

"_Please_ don't say anything to anyone, okay?" she pleaded.

"You have my word. I am just happy that this has been resolved," he vowed.

"She-um," she began. She had been able to make enough innuendos that Fandral understood what she was saying. Thor wasn't completely dense, but she felt he deserved a more direct dialogue. "She did it to herself."

"What, like she's hurting herself on purpose? That's just as bad as what Fandral and Volstagg were talking about." He nearly came unhinged.

"No! No! She was-um having some personal time and got carried away," she managed.

Thor turned bright red but sighed with relief just the same. "Oh, I understand. Well, that is different. Thank you."

Then, they awkwardly parted ways.

Loki managed to help Myrkr sober up for the most part over dinner. He also got her to tell him what all had happened to her that day. She told him in great, rambling sentences, her volume fluctuating wildly like her emotions. He did nothing to quell any of that. This was the most emotional he'd seen her when they weren't being intimate, and he rather enjoyed it.

Once they were finished, he asked to see the box under the bed. Myrkr was obviously embarrassed by it, agreed just the same. Loki sat in roughly the same spot Sif had and smiled a little to himself when she set the box in his lap and watched him open it. Unlike Sif, he seemed more than comfortable removing the contents for examination.

"This is a good book," he said with a smirk. "Have you read it?"

The genuine curiosity in his tone was what made her answer. "Yeah," she barely replied. Actually, she'd read through it completely twice and select passages multiple times.

"And this?" he held up the glass phallus, studying the unusual contours. There was no doubt what it was or what it was for, but it wasn't an entirely realistic shape. It had a slight twist in the middle and lines of little bumps that gradually got larger as they got closer to the base. It was apparent to him that whoever had crafted it had taken quite a bit of time and care. In an odd way, it was almost a piece of artwork.

Myrkr shifted uncomfortably. "Um, no, not really," she managed.

Loki cocked an eyebrow. "That is an interesting answer."

She blushed and stared at the thing in her husband's hands. "I've never penetrated myself with it, though after last night, I'm beginning to wonder if maybe it wouldn't have been such a bad idea," she muttered.

"You may have been less sore if you had made those sort of preparations," he mused. "You know I am very sorry about that, right. I pains me to know that you've suffered such lasting effects."

"Yeah, I know," she nodded. "And really, before anyone made a big fuss about it, I was sort of enjoying the feeling. It reminded me of how amazing last night was."

That made Loki smile again. "So, if you didn't penetrate yourself, how did you use this?" he proposed impishly.

"Perhaps I will show you when I am not so worn out," she countered.

Loki's smile grew into a full fledged grin. "I think I would like that very much." Then, he put everything back in the box and tucked it back under the bed.

With that out of the way, Myrkr grew serious again. "I still want to have a word with Fandral and Volstagg."

Her husband's smile fell. "I don't think that's necessary. Between what you told Sif and my conversation with Thor, I think the matter is pretty well settled. I don't believe it will do us any good to do more than that."

She shook her head. "I've done everything you've asked since the day we met, but this is not something I can abide. I need to say something to them. Even though we won't show others how we really feel, I need them to know that I will not stand idly by while they spew slander."

Her conviction took him aback. "What did you have in mind?"

They talked it over for about an hour before he agreed to let her seek them out and speak with them.

Myrkr caught up with Fandral and Volstagg just as they were about to part ways for the evening. It was dark, and most of the rest of the castle was settling in for bed.

"Gentlemen," she called.

They both started at the sound of her voice and then again when they saw her red eyes glowing in the dim torchlight of the corridor.

"Ah, m'Lady," Volstagg greeted as they turned to face her.

Suddenly, they felt the air become very cold and there was the crackling of ice around them.

"I-Is there something we can do for you?" Fandral asked, keeping his calm as best he could.

"Kneel," she ordered.

They exchanged apprehensive looks.

"Kneel!" she nearly shouted.

The two men fell to their knees and watched anxiously as the Jotun princess approached. Her walk was still a bit strained but she was doing a good job of ignoring that for the sake of her show of strength.

"Can you feel that?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"Feel what, m'Lady?" Volstagg asked.

"The cold, of course," she replied, a dark little smile dancing on her lips.

"Yes, my Lady," Fandral answered. "It is very cold."

"Rise," she ordered.

They tried and found they couldn't because their legs were frozen to the ground.

"We cannot, m'Lady," Volstagg said.

She made a slow circle around them, watching their breath come out in soft pants which she could see dissipate in front of their faces. When she made it back around to face them, she stood in front of Fandral. "You, hands behind your back, head down," she commanded.

"Yes, your Highness," he said as he did what he was told.

Myrkr smirked at the sudden elevation in her title. Everyone had called her Highness when they were first married, but those she had frequent contact with she requested that they not be so formal. The truth was, she liked the sound of Lady the best. She found it complementary and respectful, and since she was trying to make a good impression, she appreciated how unassuming it seemed.

Volstagg's eyes grew wide as he watched a blade of ice quickly grew from her forearm, down over her hand, and extended about three feet from there. The razor sharp edges glinted in the dim torch light. Fandral cringed. He recognized the crackling sound of the forming blade from when they had gone to Jotunheim with Thor and ended up fighting the Frost Giants.

"I do not appreciate the things you've been saying today," she informed them.

"I am so sorry, your Highness. Please forgive us," Fandral managed not to stammer.

"We were only looking out for your best interest," Volstagg added as he watched her test the weight of her newly formed weapon.

"You were spreading lies about my husband. Where I come from, slander like that is a highly punishable offense," she informed harshly.

"Your Highness, please have mercy. It was a mistake, one that will never be made again," Volstagg promised.

She ignored that. "Not only did you make vile accusations against my husband, you made me look like a weak fool," she continued.

"We are very sorry," Fandral said, making sure to keep his head down. "Is there anything we could do to make these things up to you?"

The bowing blonde felt the chill of her blade as the flat skated across the back of his neck. He held his breath.

"You can't kill him!" Volstagg suddenly interjected.

Myrkr glared at him but before she could respond further, Loki emerged from the shadows. "She could, but she won't," he told them.

She had no intention of actually harming either men. She simply wanted to scare them badly enough that they would not interfere with them anymore. Loki knew this, but his friends seemed less sure. He carefully set his arm on the underside of her blade and raised it up while taking a hold of the back of her dress to pull her back away from them.

"I think you proved your point," he said teasingly as released his hold on her. "You should let them go now."

She scoffed. "I will relent, but they can remain here until the ice thaws and they can free themselves," she said haughtily as she turned on heel and left.

Fandral and Volstagg breathed mutual sighs of relief. "Thank you, Loki," they said quietly.

"You did this to yourselves," he sneered. "What were you thinking? I suppose you weren't thinking," he dismissed, then he turned to leave as well.

"Loki," Volstagg called after him. "Please, let us up."

"No," he sternly replied. "She is right. The ice will melt soon enough, and this will give you a little extra time to consider what has happened."

They muttered in reluctant agreement and watched him leave. It took less than an hour before they were able to free themselves and finally go their separate ways for the night.


	9. Ice and Snow

After that misunderstanding was cleared up, the level of interpersonal drama surrounding the royal couple disappeared almost completely. That might not have been the case if Fandral and Volstagg had seen fit to tell anyone about their encounter with the Jotun princess, but they were both too scared to mention the incident to anyone after that night. It was just something that they figured was best kept to themselves.

The next two months passed without incident, and Loki and Myrkr drew closer in private while maintaining their appearance of aloof distance in public. Thor still didn't like that they put on such a show, but they didn't try as hard when they were with family, which he appreciated.

It also took Loki while to persuade his wife to show him what she did with the rather interesting gift she had received from whom he had eventually identified as one of his favorite sex workers.

"Please?" he asked hopefully one evening. The nights had started to grow longer and the days colder.

She blushed deeply. "It's silly," she dismissed.

"I've been known to occasionally be entertained by silly things," he teased.

This was not the first time he'd brought it up, but he seemed more insistent than usual. "You have to promise not to make fun of me," she bargained.

"My dear," he sighed and kissed her on the forehead. "I would never laugh at you for showing me something so personal."

"And you're not upset or anything that I have it, right? I mean, it's not like I went shopping for something like that," she hedged.

"Of course not. And I don't blame you for being at least curious about such an interesting gift. I am, perhaps, a little disappointed that it took this long for me to find out that you had it, but that is just because it makes me so curious," he persuaded.

"Okay, I'll show you," she agreed. Then, she had him lock the door while she pulled the wooden box from under their bed. They both stripped down, and she asked him not to touch her while she showed him what she sometimes did when no one was around. She did, however, allude that she was not adverse to the idea that he might touch himself while he watched. He agreed to those terms without question.

She was also pleased that he didn't say much of anything while she rearranged the pillows on their bed. By the time she actually reached for the phallus, she was blushing intensely. She shot a nervous glance at him as he sat down in the plush chair a few feet from her side of the bed. He offered a look of interested encouragement.

With a shaky sigh, she mounted one of the larger pillows. Loki could tell she felt very foolish, but he couldn't help being captivated by what he was seeing. Like most men, the idea of seeing a woman pleasure herself was fascinating. Unlike most men, however, he had taken the form of a woman, and he could tell what they did for their own pleasure and what was done as a part of a show for their partner. This was the most genuine thing he'd ever seen, and that was the most exciting aspect for him.

He watched with fascination as she concentrated for a moment and cooled the glass in her hands before sliding it down between her slick slit and the pillow she was resting on. Just doing that made her shudder as she fell forward onto her hands. Her hips began to rock back and forth while she grabbed one of his pillows to rest her head on. He could see her deeply breathing in his scent as her body moved in the ways that were pleasing to her.

Loki licked his lips and took hold of his cock. It took her a moment to realize he'd done that, but the sight of him pleasuring himself to her made her whimper, even the idea that he would do that did give her confidence. When the glass between her legs lost it's chill, she reached down and cooled it again, causing her to moan deeply as her head tossed back and forth.

A short time later, she noticed that he was leaning forward, an unmistakably hungry look in his eyes. "Th-This... This is it," she panted as she hugged his pillow with one hand while her other clawed at their bedsheets.

"No wonder my pillows always smell so good. You've been rubbing yourself all over them," he teased. "How long have you been doing this without my knowledge?"

"Since shortly after we were married," she answered. "Though I didn't start using your pillows until after we became intimate. For the longest time, I thought you found me disgusting, though I always thought of you while I did this."

He nodded in appreciation as his eyes slowly moved down her body, from her fitfully clenching and unclenching hands; to her messy hair and face, eyes dark and dilated, cheeks flushed, lips moist and parted; then down along her neck and over her shoulders, where he could start to see the rhythmic movement of her muscles. After studying the undulating movement of her spine, he settled on her round backside as her hips moved up and down over the hard length beneath her and the soft pillow beneath that. Because he was staring so intently at this, it took him a minute or so to notice that Myrkr had buried her face in his pillow.

"Why do you hide your face from me?" he questioned seriously as he leisurely stroked himself in time with her rhythmic movements.

She made a muffled little whine before coming up for air. "Because I get a weird rush when I watch you look at me so closely," she breathlessly confessed.

Loki smiled. "It's a good feeling," he asserted, using his powers of suggestion for the second time in their relationship.

Myrkr moaned and reached down to cool the glass again, which made her hips buck a little harder. While she was distracted by that, Loki stood and made a slow walk around the bed. He wasn't sure how often he would be able to get her to put on a show like this for him, and there was no way he was going to miss any of it. Once he was standing behind her, watching her wet slit slide easily against the contoured glass, his head cocking a bit when he noticed that her legs were squeezing the pillow between them to create more pressure on her most sensitive areas, she looked over her shoulder.

"Ah, take me," she suddenly urged.

"Finish this," he countered.

"But it is nothing compared to the pleasure you give me," she pleaded.

"I want to see you finish yourself, then I will join you," he promised, moving back around to his chair.

Myrkr gave a whine of denial, and she bit down on his pillow, her teeth digging in as she growled with frustration, an act that only served to excite her audience further. Her hips worked harder, faster, and her labored breath reflected this increase in her effort until she reached down one last time. That final rush of cold sent her over the edge. Her legs clamped down on the pillow between them and her hips jerked as a jagged moan escaped her lips. It lasted about half a minute before she breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed, laying her dazed head on the pillow she had been clutching in her arms.

A moment later, her vision focused and she looked to the side to see what reaction her husband had to the final throes of her solitary passion. Her heart skipped a beat when she could not see him. The curtain had been drawn around the bed. Then she gasped sharply when she felt his sure hands, one on her backside, the other pulling the glass from between her legs.

By the time she gathered the sense to look back over her shoulder at him, he was licking it clean. Her eyes grew wide and she felt her stomach quiver when he groaned at the taste. When it was clean, he set it aside and grabbed her hips, pulling her up onto her shaky knees so that he would have an easier time cleaning her as well.

He loved tasting her after her first orgasm. She was always so wet and sensitive that she dripped with deliciousness and reacted to every little touch, even just the feeling of his breath teasing her swollen lips made her twist and moan for him. She tried to push back against him, but he held her in place. When he finally gave into her cries of aroused desperation, he took the phallus again, used his own power to cool it, and slid it into her.

Myrkr nearly screamed. It was so sudden and unexpected, and he knew just the right angle to do it to drive her wild. Her eyes rolled, and she pushed back against it without hesitation. "But that's supposed to be you," she weakly complained.

He smirked and lowered the temperature of the glass a few degrees more while moving it a little faster. "What was that, darling?" he asked coyly.

She whimpered and moaned at the extra attention, incapable of delivering a proper retort. Not that she didn't try, but every time she came close to forming more than one word at a time, he increased her pleasure just enough to keep her from it. It drove her crazy, and they both loved it.

When she came a second time, the force of her peak was no less than the first, even if her muscles didn't have the strength to reflect that. Loki removed the glass phallus just as she was finishing and proceeded to clean it with his mouth once again, licking up every drop before they could escape.

"Loki," she weakly moaned as she rolled over onto her side.

He smiled at her. "I am a very lucky husband," he crooned, setting the glass aside as he leaned down over her.

She smiled back, starry eyed and largely incapable of a coherent response. Then, she bit her lip in anticipation as he situated himself to penetrate her. "Finally," she thought, though she was fairly sure she muttered it as well, as he straddled one of her legs while resting the other on his shoulder so that he didn't have to move her any more than necessary.

Myrkr's head rolled back as he slid into her. He wasted no time in building up to a reasonable pace. They were both past that. He wrapped one arm around her thigh while his other hand slipped beneath her to grasp her hip when her back arched off the bed. Their eye contact was intense, making the pressure between them build even faster until he finally lost himself inside her. He barely had the sense left to lay down next to her instead of collapsing on top of her.

When Loki landed next to her with a soft thump, his ragged breath an indicator of his previous effort tickling the back of her neck, Myrkr rolled over and hugged him. She planted kisses all over his chest and neck and face until they both burst out laughing, giddy with endorphins.

"Thank you," he told her seriously as he held her close.

They fell asleep like that, though Myrkr had to get up a few hours later to clean herself up properly. While she was at it, she rearranged the pillows in a more conventional fashion and took a moment to wash and stow her toy. Once all that was sorted, she felt better about sleeping in the next day, so she pulled back the curtain to climb back into bed. When she did, though, she couldn't help taking a moment to stand and stare at her sleeping husband.

It was rare that he was able to sleep through any disturbance, let alone the one she just caused with all her shifting and shuffling about. She took a certain amount of pride in her ability to so thoroughly tire him. Just as she was about to join him again, she noticed his discarded clothing on her side of the bed, another tell that would not do well to leave for others to find. So, she gathered it all up and took it to the laundry basket. However, when she did, she gave into a whim and put on his shirt. She didn't generally like wearing more than a pair of panties to bed, but something about wearing his shirt that appealed to her. Only then, did she allow herself to go back to bed.

The following morning Loki woke up because someone was shaking him.

"Ugh," he groaned dismissively.

"Loki!" Myrkr urged. "Wake up!"

"Mmm," he groaned again. "What is it?"

"Do you smell that?" she asked excitedly.

He didn't bother opening his eyes, only taking a deep breath. "Yes," he said rolling over onto her. "I smell you. It still smells like last night's sex," he said lazily as he started kissing her neck.

Normally, that would have instantly gotten her in the mood for a quick morning romp, but not today. This time, she pushed him off and threw back the curtain.

Loki made a sound of indignation and squinted as he tried to watch her. "Where are you going?" he weakly demanded.

Myrkr threw open their window and began jumping for joy. "Snow! It's snowing!" she raved.

Loki couldn't help rolling his eyes. He knew he should have been excited for her, but at the moment, he could hardly bring himself to care right up until she climbed up into the window. "What are you doing?" he demanded, this time more forcefully.

She winked and then took a swan dive. Loki scrambled to the window to make sure she was okay. Fortunately, a rather sizable bank of snow had accumulated on the ground below, though he didn't take a proper breath until her head popped up out of the top and he could hear her giggling.

"What do you think you're doing? Get back here right now!" he shouted down at her.

"No way! This is the first snow I've seen in months!" she shouted back and then scampered off.

That was when Loki realized she was only wearing a pair of underwear and one of his shirts. He groaned to himself and got dressed as quickly as he could, thankful nature had seen fit to dump at least three feet of snow at once. On his way out, he told one of the servants he passed to get an outfit for his wife. He was so curt with them, that they didn't question him.

When he finally found her, she was frolicing through the Queen's garden along the back corner of the castle, tossing and rolling in the snow without a care in the world. He stood on the steps beneath the eaves watching her. He knew he should do something about her behavior, but this was happiest he'd ever seen her. So, he intercepted the package of clothes and took to sitting in one of the sturdy wooden chairs that rested on the porch while he watched and waited for her.

In spite of how amusing it was to watch her, Loki was still rather tired from the activities of the night before, and he started to doze off in his chair. However, this didn't last. When Myrkr saw that he was falling asleep, she decided to do something about it.

Loki nearly fell out of his chair when something hit him in the head. It startled him so badly that it took him a moment to realize what had happened. Then, he felt something start to run down the side of his face. The paranoid part of him immediately thought he was bleeding, but when he reached up to touch his wound, all he found was snow. He looked up to see his wife standing a few feet away with a challenging smirk on her face.

"You're worse than a child," he sniped as he shook the remaining snow from his hair.

She giggled and gathered another snowball.

"Don't you dare throw that at me," he warned sternly.

She rolled her eyes and threw it. He tried to dodge but it still hit him square in the chest.

"You will regret that!" he growled and started gathering snow of his own while she giddily scampered away.

Their snowball fight lasted nearly an hour and, while Loki would have difficulty admitting it, she clearly won, if only because of her ability to control the ice and snow. When he realized that she was using those abilities to direct her attacks and deflect his, he opted for a different approach. He was still stronger and faster than her, and though it took a bit of effort on his part, he did eventually manage to knock her down and give her a good white wash.

She just laughed and grabbed him, sneaking a quick kiss before rolling them over. "I want you so bad right now," she told him in a quiet voice.

Loki made a sound of exasperation and rolled them back over again. "My little ice princess better be careful what she wishes for," he kissed. Throughout his life, he had been less affected by the cold than his fellow Asgardians, but the enchantment over him did not just change his appearance. It altered his physiology, so he was still feeling the chilling bite of the winter weather. He hoped to get her back inside before his hands and feet grew numb in his gloves and boots.

Their little skirmish did not go unnoticed. Just as she was about to reply to her husband's sexy threat, her eyes grew wide and she snickered.

Loki could tell she was looking at something behind him, but before he could completely turn to look a great pile of snow was dumped on them.

Through it, he could hear his brother's teasing voice say, "You two better be careful. If someone sees, they might think you actually like each other."

Loki was furious, but before he could sit up and try to unbury them, Myrkr pulled him in for a passionate kiss, her bare legs snaking around his to pull him close. This time, the kiss lasted long enough to change his form, something he was actually somewhat grateful for because it made him feel like he wasn't going to freeze to death.

When their kiss broke, she kept a hand on his cheek to keep him from changing back. "Take me out today," she requested hopefully.

"Where do you want to go?" he questioned.

"Anywhere but here. Somewhere where no one will find us. I want to play in the snow with you without worry. We could run and skate and swim!" she listed.

The idea of swimming in an icy river did not immediately sound appealing to Loki, but he tried to understand that it would not be as unpleasant as his previous experiences with cold water. Then, he tried to remember if he had a pair of ice skates that fit him but realized that he would likely not need them. "Will you get dressed if I agree to this?" he proposed.

She snickered and kissed him again. "I will wear whatever you want until we're out of sight. Then, I can't make any promises...except perhaps that I will be trying to strip you as soon as possible."

They both felt the contents of Loki's pants shift. "I will take you out, and we'll see what we can do from there. Now, we should probably get up before Thor worries that we're suffocating under this snow pile," he half-joked.

The couple came bursting out of the snow a few seconds later. Loki took a few seconds to try to brush himself off while Myrkr violently shook out her hair. She managed to dislodge most of the snow, but she looked as wild as ever by the time she was finished. Loki couldn't help thinking that was the first time he really saw her, though he did a good job of internalizing his reaction as he walked past her and into the castle. Because of this, he noticed that his brother's reaction to her.

"Thor, you're staring," he said with dry amusement as he passed the older prince.

Thor blinked a couple of times, turned bright red, and stammered a bit. He tried to form some kind of excuse for his behavior, but Loki was already gone. When he turned back he was faced with the strangely attractive disheveled Jotun woman. They were eye to eye, and it took him a moment to realize it was because she had generated a pedestal of ice and snow to stand on.

"Don't worry, I won't tell," she said with a wink, then gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before following Loki inside where he made her put on a robe before urging her to go back up to their chambers to dress properly. He even went as far as to send a couple of handmaidens after her to make sure she was at least somewhat properly dressed for the cold.

Thor stood dumbstruck during all this. Although he had acknowledged that she was attractive, this was the first time he had actually been attracted to her. The icy little kiss she'd given him made a warmth churn in his belly that made him very uncomfortable, not because of what she was but because of who she was.

After his drunken slip nearly six months before, he was very careful about how he treated and approached Myrkr because he wasn't sure how genuine his brother's suspicions were about his feelings for his sister-in-law. Truth be told, he'd only kissed her because of Loki's mention earlier that evening about her mouth tasting like mint. When he smelled her cool breath, he didn't think. It just happened. As he replayed the moment in his mind, he realized that he didn't even really want to kiss her, he just wanted to taste her mouth, which made him feel like a bit of a creep. Other than that, his affection for her had always been of the friendly and familial sort, something she seemed to appreciate and value greatly.

"Are you alright?" Loki said when he came back out to see why his brother had yet to come in from the cold.

Thor started a bit. "I am so sorry," he managed.

"I was only joking. I really don't care if you stare at her. Who wouldn't stare at a half-naked blue woman caked in snow and ice?" he joked.

Thor laughed awkwardly. "I suppose that's true. She..." he began then trailed off.

"She what?" Loki prompted curiously.

"She looked different just now," he tried.

The dark-haired brother nodded. "Yes, she did. Can you believe she dove out our window this morning?"

Thor's eyebrows shot up. "That's three stories."

"I know. I thought she'd gone mad," he chuckled.

"She was wearing your shirt," Thor noted. "Your attempt to cover her, I assume?"

Loki shook his head. "She wore it to bed last night. I'm really not sure what's worse, that someone could have seen her in nothing but underwear or wearing something of mine."

"I don't think anyone really noticed," he dismissed.

Loki didn't reply to that, though he knew that if Thor noticed, then a fair number of others would have as well. Either way, he would be able to make a reasonable excuse for the intimacy that sort of action would imply.

Before going to get ready for his outing, he told his brother about his plans and implied that it would be helpful if he could keep others from following them. Thor agreed to do what he could within the limits of his promise and let him go.


	10. Mark of Discovery

Once Loki and Myrkr were ready, they met in the stables.

"Why are we bringing a horse?" she questioned when she saw him making sure the saddle was properly situated on his dark steed.

"That one is yours," he said as he motioned to another horse, a white one with gray patches along it's back haunches.

"We're bringing two horses?" she scoffed.

He gave her a look that told her not to argue.

Myrkr stepped up to him to speak softly. "We can move much more easily without these beasts. I don't want to have to mind them while we are doing other things," she complained.

"We are taking horses," he asserted.

She frowned. "Can we at least ride together? Horses hate me," she complained.

"No," he told her sternly. He looked around and seeing that no one was paying attention to them, he said in a quiet voice. "I would love to, but it is not an option. My mother and father don't even ride together. Besides, we need the two horses so they can keep each other warm while we are doing other things," he advised.

She didn't look convinced until he winked at her, then she conceded. "Fine, have it your way," she huffed and went to see how difficult the horse he picked for her is going to be. Fortunately, her husband seemed to have a way with these creatures, so when it seemed unsure of her mounting it, he eased the beast.

On their way out, a servant asked if they needed any supplies for their trip. Loki shot his wife a sidelong glance before replying. "No, we shouldn't need anything that we cannot find ourselves."

It was unusual for people to go out into a winter storm, even one as tame as this, and even more so for them to leave without taking a few precautionary supplies, but the servant knew better than to argue.

Once they were out of town, Myrkr removed her heavy cloak and half-tucked it into her saddle bag. She threw her head back and took a deep breath.

"Is it really that enjoyable?" he asked her. His tone was teasing, but he was genuinely curious.

"It's funny, there are a lot more things I miss about Jotunheim than I expected. Will it get colder than this?" she replied.

"This is only the first snow. Lucky for you, it's quite the fall, and yes. In another couple months, it will be much colder."

She smiled.

"Do you ever get too cold?" he questioned.

"I'm a winterling," she answered as though that said enough.

"Isn't it always winter on Jotunheim?" he sarcastically replied.

"Spoken like a true pink-skin Asgardian summerling," she taunted. "Believe it or not, Jotunheim has seasons as well. I was born in the coldest season during the darkest night. I have yet to encounter a climate that is too cold for me," she bragged.

He nodded and made a mental note to ask Odin if he knew what season it was on Jotunheim when he was taken. Perhaps she could tell himself about it.

Then, as though she was reading his mind, she said, "I'd bet you're a wetling."

"A what?" he questioned.

"It's sort of the opposite. Jotuns born during the wet season tend to have wider, lighter markings," she told him.

"And the thin, dark markings you have indicate that you are a winterling?" he assumed.

She smiled. "You're learning."

They found a sunny spot largely clear of snow to leave their horses a short time later.

"What would you like to do now?" he asked.

"I would like to go swimming with you," she said eyeing the stream a short distance away, "But we would have to keep contact the entire time so that you wouldn't freeze."

He laughed. "As fun as that sounds, perhaps another time," he tried.

She nodded. "Then let's just go for a walk."

Their walk quickly turned into a chase and yet another snowball fight where they ended up wrestling. As they playfully fought for dominance, he couldn't help noticing that she was stronger than usual, no doubt because of their surroundings. It made him wonder if having their wedding in late spring was an intentional move to keep her subdued once she got to Asgard.

By the time they got serious about being intimate, they were far from their horses and even further from civilization. Loki couldn't help finding his wife's sense of liberation contagious. He even threw caution to the wind and stripped down completely while they kissed and touched and rolled in the snow. The storm had stopped for the time being, but the wind still blew the light, fluffy flakes around them in great swirling gusts. It was exhilarating.

"I have a request," she said breathlessly.

Loki could hear the apprehension in her voice. "This day is for you; what do you desire?" he prompted without missing a beat.

"I want you to take me like a Jotun would," she asked hopefully.

He pulled back a bit to get a better look at her face. "And how would that be?"

She rolled over beneath him so that she was on her hands and knees and pushed back against him.

"Are you sure this won't bring back any bad memories?" he hedged, though he couldn't help running his hands up and down her bare back.

"Believe it or not, there is consensual sex on Jotunheim, and this one of the ways it's done," she snapped.

He still appeared unsure.

"I am presenting myself to you. Are you going to refuse?" she nearly growled as she dipped her shoulders and lifted her hips.

Her little display triggered something primal within him. "No, I'm not that stupid," he muttered as he took hold of her hips and thrust into her.

He was rewarded with a great moan, and he kept going from there. The cold wind and shifting snow only seemed to heighten the sensations he felt because of her. Before he realized what he was doing, he had a hand full of her hair and he was using it to pull her head to one side. It made her groan with satisfaction, and he stopped just short of biting her shoulder.

"Do it," she hissed.

He needed no further encouragement. His teeth sank into her skin hard enough to leave a bruise, and he didn't intend to let go until he was finished. Unfortunately, he didn't get that far. They both heard the voices, but they were so caught up in what they were doing that they seemed distant and unimportant until one of them was close enough to be heard yelling at them.

"What in the nine realms is going on here?" a man shouted.

"Another Jotun in Asgard? How can that be?" another exclaimed.

"Is that Myrkr?" a woman gasped.

That was about the time Loki was violently kicked in the side, toppling them both over and interrupting their intensely intimate moment. They squinted up at their attackers, finding the faces unnervingly familiar. It was Thor, who looked equal parts guilty and horrified, and Sif and the Warriors Three, who were absolutely aghast.

It took them a moment of staring to realize just what they were looking at.

"Loki?" Hogun said, obviously unsure of himself.

The dark haired prince untangled himself from his softly growling wife and stood, taking a moment to tear the heavy cloak from his brother's shoulders to protect him from the sudden rush of cold. "What is the meaning of this?" he indignantly questioned.

They all gawked for a moment as they watched him change back to the appearance they were used to seeing before one of them had the sense to speak again.

"We should ask you the same thing!" Fandral asserted. He shot an accusing look at the nude and obviously outraged Jotun woman and then back to her irritated husband.

Loki sighed and surveyed the expressions of the others. Thor looked as apologetic as ever and like he was waiting for Loki to come up with some reason for their behavior. Sif and the others had taken on various degrees of distrust, disgust, and apprehension.

"Thor, if you would help my wife find her clothes and take her back to the horses," the younger brother politely bid his sibling as he gathered his clothes.

"No! This is outrageous!" Myrkr nearly screamed. "You call yourselves his friends. How dare you-" she was about to rage but Loki held a hand up and she stopped.

The only reason he stopped her was because her outburst made Fandral and Volstagg flinch. Thor did as he was asked, but she wouldn't leave Loki, so he settled for shielding her from their view while encouraging her to put her clothes back on. During this, Loki managed to mostly redress as well.

"Aren't you going to explain yourself?" Sif demanded when she sensed Loki was stalling.

The younger prince sighed. "Alright, you've discovered my terrible secret," he said dramatically.

"Loki, no!" Myrkr struggled to get past Thor, but he wouldn't let her by.

"It's alright. As you said, these people are friends, and if they are friends, then they should be able to accept the truth," he eased.

She stopped, but her heart was still racing. She was ready to freeze everyone, if possible, and run away with Loki.

"Honestly, keeping it from you all has been more trouble than it's worth," Loki muttered.

"What's been more trouble? What is this secret?" Volstagg pressed anxiously.

Loki looked back over his shoulder at his anxious wife. "That Myrkr and I are actually very fond of each other, you might even go as far as to say that we're in love."

They all blinked in disbelief.

"What?" Fandral scoffed.

"It was thought that the people would have an easier time warming up to her gradually and if I did the same, it would make that transition more seamless," he reasoned. "I really didn't think I would like her at first, and it did take us several months to warm up to each other, but you can't spend as much time together as we do without ending up either loving or hating the other person."

They looked at him like he was crazy.

Sif sighed in exasperation. "Say you two really are in love. That doesn't explain what we just saw. Why were you Jotun?" she accused.

"A simple enchantment." Loki urged his wife to stand at his side. "See?" he said as he touched her bare arm with his fingertips, his skin rippling blue from there. "I change myself for her benefit," he said, pulling his hand away and changing back once again. "As Fandral so rudely pointed out some time ago, the difference in our natural body temperatures would make intimacy uncomfortable. Am too warm for her and she too cool for me, and since she has done so much to assimilate into our society, I thought it only fair that I undergo this temporary transformation for her."

Thor watched his friend's faces to see if his brother's lie would be effective. After a moment of thinking, it seemed to work.

"Why were you doing it out here? Anyone could have come across you. You were lucky it was us," Fandral reasoned.

"It's the first snowfall of winter, and it is quite the fall. She wanted a special day. I told her we would do whatever she wanted," he replied with the perfect blend of ease and feigned embarrassment.

Once she realized what her husband was up to, Myrkr didn't hesitate to join in. "You wouldn't go swimming with me."

Loki laughed and shook his head. "Even I have my limits," he told her, then turned back to the others. "Is everything okay? Do we understand one another?"

"Thor," Volstagg turn to the blonde prince. "Did you know of their affection for one another?"

As much as he hated being put on the spot like that, he was grateful that he didn't have to lie. "Yes, I knew. They asked that I keep it a secret."

That was good enough for them.

"I am truly sorry, then," Fandral said with a slight bow. "And I swear that as long as I am able, I will keep this secret for you as well."

The others readily agreed and vowed secrecy as well.

"May we walk you back to your horses?" Sif offered. "Or would you rather us just leave you?"

"We should be getting back," Loki sighed and looked to his wife again, who still appeared unhappy. "I will make this up to you, I promise."

"You'd better," she snapped and started back the way they came.

"Are you sure that's the right way?" Sif asked. The wind had blown away most of their tracks and she and the others had taken a very roundabout route to find them.

"I know the way," she dismissed. Then, when she saw that they weren't as sure as she was, she started jogging. With practiced hand motions, she moved the snow around her without even touching it until it formed a spiral staircase twenty feet tall and she stood at the top. "I can see them from here," she called back down, which seemed to convince them.

Then, with a flick of her wrist, the stairs turned into a slide, and she slid down to meet them.

"That was quite impressive," Fandral praised.

"I can do a great many things that you might find impressive," she told him ominously.

Her tone gave him an uncomfortable feeling of mixed anxiety and curiosity.

Myrkr led the way with Sif by her side while Loki stayed back to speak with the other men.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Sif asked, obviously a little hurt.

"Because we told no one," she answered coolly.

She was quiet for a long moment. "That must have been difficult," she tried.

Myrkr gave an impish grin. "It was actually sort of fun. I've never had a secret lover before, and to have it be my own husband was an interesting twist. You understand now why I was so upset when you all started making those accusations against Loki?" she asked.

Sif nodded. "Yes, I do, but it would have been easier if you had just told me that you'd-" she tried but was cut off.

"No one would have believed me," she dismissed. "You all would have thought I was lying either because I was afraid of his wrath or ashamed that something like that would happen to me. And what I told you wasn't a lie. He is always very careful with me. I'm just not always very careful with myself," she laughed.

Sif blushed but nodded just the same.

Once they made it back to the castle, they all parted ways except Thor, who was asked to follow the couple back to their chambers. He knew Loki was going to lay into him, and he spent their silent walk contemplating possible retorts.

When the door closed, Loki turned to his brother. "I thought I asked you-" he began but Thor cut him off.

"Yes, I know. They insisted on going out, and I couldn't think of a good reason not to. I went with them to try to steer them away from you, but Hogun's got very good eyes, and Sif's ears are even better. They got worried when they saw your horses tied up and left with almost nothing left on them," he rambled.

Loki sighed. "I understand, and thank you for not contradicting me."

"Honestly, I think they were more surprised to see the two of you being so wildly intimate than anything else," Thor half-joked.

They heard Myrkr made a sound of irritation from the other room where she was getting changed out of the heavy winter wear that she had been forced into wearing.

"I am so very sorry that we interrupted you," the older brother said.

"These clothes are completely unreasonable!" Myrkr shouted.

Loki chuckled softly. "You go," he told his brother then joined Myrkr in their wardrobe.

"I hate these cumbersome furs!" she complained as she tried to wiggle out of her long hooded coat. She might have had an easier time of it if she wasn't so upset already.

"I know," he agreed as he helped her out of it and everything else.

Once she was free of it, she turned to her husband, hugged him tight and started to sob.

"Shhh," he eased. "It's alright."

"It's not just that. I got carried away, and you were nearly found out. It was selfish and stupid of me, and I am so, so sorry," she practically raved.

He sighed and pulled her out to arm's length. "Get a hold of yourself," he told her sternly. "Everything is fine. Yes, we were caught, but they are none the wiser, and now we have an excuse for why my appearance changes when we touch," he reasoned.

His sudden change in tone reeled her in a bit. She almost apologized again, but held back.

"If you ask me," he said, turning her around and pulling her back toward him, "the worst part is that we didn't get to finish. That was one of the most intense love making sessions I've ever been part of, and I was more furious that it was cut short." As he spoke, he wrapped a protective arm around her waist and ran his other hand up and down her thigh.

Myrkr whined a little. "I was also very upset," she understated.

"I know. I felt the air around us drop at least ten degrees as soon as they knocked us over," he chuckled as he gathered her hair and pushed it all over her right shoulder. His breath caught when he got a good look at the bruise he'd given her. It had already turned into a jagged black oval.

"Thank you," she said quietly. She could see his expression in the full length mirror a few feet away and could tell he had mixed feelings about what he saw.

Loki licked his lips and leaned a little closer to the bruise on her shoulder.

"I will be sure to cover it, which is a bit sad, but a reasonable precaution," she told him.

He was surprised to find that part of him was a little offended that she would have to cover it. Even if their deception didn't require it, he wasn't sure how well the idea that he was biting her would go over. "Why did you want me to do it so badly?" he asked quietly.

She smirked. "You wanted to, didn't you?" she countered.

Loki worried his lip between his teeth for a moment, his attention torn between studying the bruise he'd given her and her face in the mirror a few feet away. "I did. It seemed right somehow."

Her smirk turned into a wide smile. "So you really do love me," she mused.

"Another custom of Jotunheim?" he presumed.

"Customs are learned. The urge to mark loved ones is inherent," she corrected.

"Then why have you never bitten me?" he wondered aloud.

She laughed. "Honestly, I didn't think you'd appreciate it. You were the one who encouraged me to read about Asgardian courting. It wasn't like I never thought about it."

"When did you think about it?" he pressed, his attention turning back to the mark he'd left.

"Every time you set me on top of you," she confessed. "I know you saw me grit and bare my teeth."

"Then all those times I spent as long as I could kissing and nibbling your skin, that must have seemed like I was teasing you," he thought aloud.

"It might have, if I didn't consider it the Asgardian equivalent," she replied.

Loki's lips hovered over her shoulder for a long moment before he finally gave into the urge to run his lips along the outer rim of the bruise. When she shuddered in response, he held her tighter and licked it, making her moan.

"Oooh, I have half a mind to kill all of them for interrupting us," she growled.

He found her violent confession oddly endearing. He had never been with someone who genuinely valued his intimacy so much. "Now, now, look at it from their perspective. It is still unheard of for frost giants to be seen in Asgard, with the exception of yourself. And with the noises you were making, it would have been difficult for them to understand what was going on. For all they knew, we'd been separated, and someone came along and attacked you. If they hadn't been looking out for your safety, I would have torn off Hogun's leg for kicking me like he did."

His reasonableness seemed to both ease and frustrate her. She couldn't think of a proper response right away, so she urged him to keep licking the bruise on her shoulder. "Would you let me bite you?" she finally asked.

He smiled against her skin and gave her another kiss before answering. "Will it hurt?"

She scoffed. "Don't tell me you're afraid of a little pain."

He chuckled and kissed her bruise again. "With Thor as my brother, it has been a constant in my life. I was merely curious because it did not seem to hurt when I bit you."

She turned around and looked him square in the eyes. "It did not hurt because I love you, because I wanted you to do it," she told him seriously.

Loki felt his stomach tremble. Unequivocal proof that someone cared deeply for him was almost more than he could handle. He held her tightly and kissed her hard until they were both breathless. Then, he picked her up, took her into their bedroom, and set her on the bed. She tried to pull him down with her, but he didn't let her.

"There is something I've been meaning to do for you," he told her.

"What is it?" she asked, surprised that whatever it was didn't involve climbing into the bed with her.

"Just get comfortable and wait here. I will be back very shortly," he promised.

She looked confused. "Well, alright. I suppose if you take too long, I could just entertain myself," she teased.

Loki groaned a little at the thought. "As long as you're here when I get back, I really don't care what you do."


	11. Dedication

Loki's first stop was to the kitchen. Along his way, he happened upon Hogun, who apologized profusely for kicking him. Loki forced a smile and assured him that there was no harm done and that he was pleased that his friends cared so much for his wife's well being.

Once in the kitchen, he found Volstagg making and sandwich out of the leftovers from that afternoon's lunch. He received another apology and replied in the same fashion. When he saw that the large man was about to ask what he was doing, he shut him down with a single look of warning. After procuring a metal serving platter, filling it with grapes, and covering it with a lid, he was off again.

Next stop was the vault, but just as he left the kitchen, he encountered Fandral, who happened to be looking for Volstagg and Hogun, of course. Another apology was delivered, and the same response was given as Loki directed him to the kitchen. The prince sighed with irritation as he continued on his quest.

He made it to the vault without further interruption. Instructing the guards to wait outside and to allow no one to enter until he left, he entered and shut the door. Holding the platter on one hand, he pulled the casket from its pedestal with the other. He put the platter in it's place and set the lid aside. With a cautious glance over his shoulder, he took the casket in both hands. He inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly as he channeled the power of the Casket of Ancient Winters. It was fairly easy for him to activate. The difficulty lay in keeping the effects of its power to a minimum. He only wanted to freeze a bunch of grapes, not alert the Destroyer only a short distance away. Thanks to the time he spent with Myrkr studying and at times just messing around with the artifact, he was able to accomplish his task with minimal effort.

With that done, he quickly put everything back in place, and exited the vault. Again, the guards gave him strange looks but did not question him. From there, he thought he was in the clear. Unfortunately, there was one person he had yet to encounter. Sif had gone out of her way to be in the general area of his chambers so that she could apologize as well. It wasn't her fault that it had been the fourth apology that he'd received in the last twenty minutes and that he was very tired of such distractions.

"Yes, I know that you are very sorry for what happened," he snapped.

She was taken aback by the irritation in his voice, though she knew she shouldn't have been.

"Thor said it was your impeccable hearing that alerted you to Myrkr's presence," he began as he slowed his pace to speak with her. This was not a conversation he wanted to have right in front of his door because while the sounds inside their chamber did not make it out, the inverse was not the case.

Sif frowned. "I suppose that's true."

Loki nodded. "And to your keen ears, what did it sound like was happening?"

She took a step back and fumbled her words.

"Tell me what you thought you heard. I am very interested," he pressed.

She could feel his presence pressing in on her. It wasn't enough to influence her thoughts, but it was unnerving. "It was difficult to tell. It sort of sounded like muffled screaming, maybe crying," she managed.

"She was rather loud when I bit her," he mused under his breath, but still loud enough that Sif could hear him. "Judging just by the sounds you heard, did it sound like she was in trouble? Or did it sound like something else?" he asked after a moment to watch her expression darken.

"As I said, it was difficult to tell," she insisted. "I thought you would appreciate that we were concerned for her safety. It's not as though we knew it was you on top of her," she snapped.

Loki smirked. He sort of liked it when she yelled at him. "When you did realize what was happening?"

"By the time we realized it was you, it was over," she dismissed. "Why were you biting her anyway? If you hadn't been doing that, Hogun probably wouldn't have kicked you so hard. We might have even had a clue it was you," she tried to shift the focus onto him.

The prince scowled, mostly because it was so painfully obvious to him what she was doing. "Since you are so close to Myrkr, I'll have you know that you interrupted a Jotun mating ritual," he told her in a low, dangerous voice. "It was my way of proving to her that I accepted her for who and what she is and their equivalent to a marriage ceremony. You are lucky she didn't fly into a rage and try to kill you all," he lied.

Sif paled and swallowed hard. "There was no way we could have known," she said in a soft, shaky voice.

"Tch," Loki scoffed. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I am in the process of making all of that up to her."

More than anything, that surprised Sif. She had never known Loki to care for someone so deeply or to go out of his way to make amends without some sort of ulterior motive. She stood stunned, watching the man that she had considered a friend since childhood, but had also learned not to trust too readily, as he quickly walked away. Only after he was gone did she wonder what he had under the lid of the platter he was carrying.

Loki entered his chambers and locked the door with a sigh. He quieted and listened but heard nothing, so he went into the bedroom. He found his wife laying comfortably on their bed with her eyes half-shut.

"Don't tell me you fell asleep. I wasn't gone that long," he teased as he set the tray on her bedside stand.

Myrkr winked. "I was just thinking."

"Oh? Do tell," he urged as he climbed up next to her.

She giggled and opened her legs. Even just that released enough of her scent that he knew what sort of thing was on her mind. "I sure hope it was thoughts of me that put you in such a state," he said, running his fingers through her slit and bringing them up to his mouth to taste her.

"What's on the platter?" she dodged.

He smiled and sat up at the top of the bed, pulling the tray over next to him and discarding the lid. Before she could say anything, he pulled her into his lap. It was his favorite position for starting intimacy. They both had about equal amounts mobility and the freedom to speak to and fondle one another. It was easiest to kiss that way, he love the feeling of getting her so excited that she would grind against him, and either of them could initiate sex when the time was right.

"Grapes?" she curiously questioned.

He smiled and plucked one from the bunch. Pleased that it was still frozen, he put it to her lips. When her mouth opened to gasp at the unexpected chill, he popped it in. She made a small sound of surprise, and then a soft, "Mmm," of pleasure as she bit into it.

"What are these? Where did they come from?" she asked once she was done savoring that one.

His smile grew as he gave her the abbreviated version of his little adventure, making sure to leave out all of the apologies. He would tell her about them later, but now was not the time to worry about that.

She snatched one up and fed it to him. "You often tease me that there are others that I might fancy, even just in passing. I need to make one thing clear to you. No one makes me feel this way except you."

He greatly enjoyed the result of his ingenuity but faltered a bit at the intense look she was giving him.

"You know I don't care if you are attracted to other people. What we have is different from any of that," she reasoned before he fed her another grape.

He laughed awkwardly, then returned the favor. "I know. Maybe it's just hard for me to fathom that you would be attracted to me exclusively. I know you mean it, that you're not just saying it flatter me. Are you sure there's no one else that you at least find interesting? You know I won't be jealous."

Myrkr had been with Loki long enough that she knew he really wouldn't be jealous if she found someone else attractive just as long as she didn't shift her preference away from him. Actually, she was beginning to realize that it was his way of looking for new and different ways of exciting her. He could shape shift, if it was a physical attribute she was fancied, and his talent for lying lent itself well to emulating the personality traits of others.

"I'm going to tell you a secret," she began, mostly because that was a hook she knew he couldn't refuse. Then, she took a frozen grape and traced her lips with it before offering it to him. She shuddered a little when he crushed it between his teeth. "I saw you once before I was presented to you by Laufey."

"When?" he pressed, wracking his memory for a time when he could have seen her before then. He would like to think he would have remembered seeing someone like her, but he had only been to Jotunheim once since he'd been taken by Odin, and he was too distracted by Laufey and his soldiers to see much else.

"When you and your friends stood before Laufey while your brother demanded an explanation for some kind of perceived invasion," she answered as she took another grape and ate it herself, savoring the frozen juices. "This is absolutely marvelous," she raved and kissed him.

He licked her lips before pulling back. "As long as we're sharing secrets, I was the one who let that handful of frost giants into Asgard," he confessed.

"What?" she questioned incredulously.

"It was the day of Thor's coronation, and I seemed to be the only one who realized he was not ready for such a thing. Admittedly, I probably was motivated by jealousy, at least in part, but my little act of mischief-" he tried to explain but she cut him off.

"Treason," she corrected seriously.

He didn't even flinch. "Thor's reaction, or rather overreaction, to the situation proved my point."

"I was told that we were the first Jotun to ever set foot in Asgard," she replied.

"Well, to be fair, the ones I snuck into the vault did not last more than a few minutes. The Destroyer made quick work of them." When she frowned, he added, "They were fools to think they could escape with the casket."

"I suppose that's true," she muttered and munched a few more grapes before the got warm and soft. "You didn't let me finish my story."

"Then by all means," he urged while following her example.

"I was told that I was being prepared for Odinson. I didn't even know there was more than one. When I saw you all that day, I was hiding back and away from the danger, but I was close enough to see and hear what was happening. One of the other women pointed and said, 'That is Thor, son of Odin.' She was only making an idle observation, but I thought I was to marry him, provided he didn't provoke a war," she retracted.

"Oh," Loki said, his heart sinking a little.

"I was really disappointed. He was brash, loud, careless, and easily provoked. Only one of you had the courage to find a diplomatic solution, a peaceful solution that would save lives. I watched the battle unfold and saw that most of the rest of you were very much the same, focusing on singular opponents. Only one of you kept an eye on the scene as a whole, not to mention found some rather interesting solutions to the situations he found himself in. I was taken away before I could watch the finish, but you were the one who impressed me the most," she explained.

Loki shook his head in disbelief. "Is that why you smiled at me when we were first introduced?"

She laughed and kissed him. He broke away a moment later and urged her to keep eating while he kissed and nibbled down the side of her neck, over her shoulder and collarbone, and finally settled at her breasts. She squirmed in his lap while trying to do as he asked.

Her eyes rolled when he started sucking on her nipples. He had become quite the expert at making her nipples pop out. Once he had accomplished that, he snatched up a grape, bit off half, and put the exposed frozen flesh of the fruit on her recently exposed nipple. She moaned and her hips rocked as her head dipped down to rest on his shoulder.

"If I bite you in this form, will it show when you change back?" she asked anxiously.

"As long as you don't bite my face, it won't be problem either way. I don't run around in various states of undress as you are so fond of doing," he teased.

She licked his neck and nibbled his earlobe, groaning a little as he shifted beneath her. He was about to urge her to get on with it, to stop teasing him. He wanted to see what it would feel like to be bitten and have it not be painful, but she had other plans. She ran her fingers through his hair, using it to pull his head back, exposing his throat. She kissed and licked and nipped at the thinly covered vein just to the side of his windpipe.

"This is the place of true ownership," she whispered against his skin.

"Oh?" he barely asked.

"It signifies what the people here call a life debt. To bear someones mark on your neck means that, if necessary, you will give your life for them. It is an act of submission, sometimes even done by force."

Loki forced a laugh. "An interesting idea, my dear, but not something I think you are capable of."

She kissed his neck again. "No, even if I had the desire, I lack the physical prowess to force such a submission on you."

"But remember, there are two sides," she said, dragging her lips from the left side of his neck to the right. "If I had another ally, together we could have the potential for such an act."

"To gang up on someone like that is cheap," he tried to argue, though it wasn't really a tactic that he could find much fault with personally.

"Sometimes others need to be reigned in," she told him seriously. "And, in all honesty, neck markings are most often given by parents or other caregivers."

"What about where I bit you? What does that mean?" he inquired curiously.

She sat up and reached over her shoulder to touch the bruise he'd given her. "This place means that I willingly gave myself to you and that I trust you to protect me. Remember when the others found us earlier. You made a point of putting yourself between them and me even though it was more likely they would come after you, considering the circumstances."

He hadn't realized it until she said that, but it has been his instinct to keep her out of danger, though that could be easily justified in other ways. "What else is there?"

She smiled and leaned down, placing a firm kiss on his pectoral. "Letting me leave my mark here indicates that you have preference for me but aren't going to be upset should I choose to find company with another for whatever reason."

"I think that would be a good place," he said hopefully.

She cocked her head and nipped at him "Don't you want to know your other options?"

He groaned. "What else is there?"

She smiled slyly and slid down in his lap, enjoying the apprehension in his eyes when her lips ghosted over his manhood. She spread his legs and planted kisses on his inner thigh. "A sign of trust," she nipped at him again, "intimate trust. A symbol of fulfilled carnal desires. This is the mark of satisfaction."

His eyes rolled. "So, ownership, protection, preference, and satisfaction," he said pointing to his neck, shoulder, chest, and thigh in turn.

She nodded and licked the thick muscle of his inner thigh.

"Can I have more than one at a time?" he half-joked.

She smiled. "It is not unheard of, though they are usually delivered by different individuals."

That made Loki think of something. She had shown him the scars on her hip but those were the only marks he'd seen on her. Out of curiosity, he pulled her back up and took a moment to examine her body.

"No one has ever bitten me before, if that's what you're looking for," she told him. "And before you, I've never found anyone I thought was worth sinking my teeth into."

As much as that pleased him, it also made him a little sad. "Is there anything else?" he questioned.

"The only other is a nip on the backside. It doesn't carry the same sort of weight as the others, it's more of an indicator of a playful chase. Any others are incidental, usually the result of intense passion," she explained.

"Do what you want," he finally surrendered.

Myrkr grinned and mounted Loki, slowly sliding down his length until she was sitting in his lap again. Once settled there, she slowly rolled her hips, making them both groan. At that point, he'd pretty much given up on the whole biting thing for the moment. Either she wanted time to decide, or she didn't think the moment was right. It didn't matter. He was done asking questions for now.

When Loki's head rolled back against the soft pillows behind him as he grabbed her hips and helped the hypnotic circular motion of her lower body, that was when she struck. She swiftly leaned forward and and sunk her teeth into his chest. Loki moaned loudly and came inside her a moment later. Only once she was sure his peak had waned did she pull back, a hopeful little smile on her face.

Loki looked absolutely stunned. It had been a very long time since he'd been at a loss for words, but that was possibly the most intense sensation he'd ever felt. It took him a few seconds to realize what had happened.

"That's never happened before," he muttered. Then he looked down at his chest to see the mark she'd left on his skin. It was a nearly perfect circle of her teeth marks that was quickly turning black. He couldn't think of anything else of meaning to say, so he just kissed her again. When that finally broke, he smiled weakly. "I'm sorry I didn't last very long."

She playfully hit him. "Please don't be sorry for proving that it didn't hurt."

He accepted that even though it did still make him feel a little inadequate to come so quickly.

When she saw that look on his face, she had the perfect solution. "Here," she said as she guided his mouth toward her breasts. Her nipples had nearly inverted once again, and he didn't hesitate to remedy that.

Loki had always found himself extremely sensitive after sex, this was no exception, though he didn't tend to remain inside his lovers after he'd climaxed. This was a series of sensations that was almost entirely new to him. Sure, he had felt her twitch and jerk around his cock before, but not like this. He groaned into her skin and redoubled his efforts. It was like he could feel every muscle spasm and the gradual constriction of her body until she finally clamped down and started to pulse around him, her breathy gasping cries ringing in his ears.

As she panted for breath and rested her head on his shoulder, he took hold of her hips again, grinding them together. "You accused me of enchanting you the first time that happened," he mused.

"Uh-huh," was her dazed reply.

"I wonder sometimes if maybe it's not the other way around," he teased as he roll his hips up against her. She had made him hard again, the quickest rebound that he had ever experienced.

She whimpered and held tightly to his shoulders as she moved with him. Feeling how tired her muscles were from all the excitement that day, Loki took the liberty of changing their positions to one where he could take full control of the situation. There was one he'd been wanting to try, but his prior aversion to using any sort of force to top her had prevented it.

He straddled her left leg and pulled her back to him. She moaned and clawed at their bedsheets as he slowly entered her once again. Once inside, he encouraged her to pull one of their pillows under her chest. He leaned down over her, planting a firm hand just under her left arm while keeping a grip on her hip with his right hand.

She wasn't really sure about what he was doing, but at that point she didn't care, which was why she was so surprised when the slight angle their position provided almost made her see stars again right away. She pushed back against him with what little leverage she had, encouraging him to thrust harder. He obliged readily, making her growl with delight and claw at the pillow beneath her.

Once he found his rhythm, he leaned down over her without thinking. His lips brushed over the bruise on her shoulder. He licked and kissed the mark he'd left on her. There was something innately satisfying about nursing the wound, even though he hadn't even managed to break her skin. Using what little mental faculty he had available at the moment, he realized that if he had bitten anyone else that hard, he would have likely torn out a piece of their flesh, or at least left them bleeding.

"You may," she said, panting.

The sound of her voice made him forget all that for the time being. "May what?"

"You may do it again, if you like," she managed.

"You shouldn't have to tell me that, should you?" he mused, thrusting a little harder because he loved the strain in her voice when she tried to speak through the pleasure he gave her.

Fitfully, she shook her head from side to side. He wasn't sure if that meant that no, he shouldn't have to be told, or that she didn't have it in her to form a verbal reply at the moment. Either way, he decided to nip at the back of her neck until he came inside her a short time later.

Satisfied, he rolled her over onto her back, spread her legs, and bit her inner thigh. Her yelp of surprise gave way to a groan. When he was finished, he sat back for a moment to admire his latest marking. Something about seeing her splayed out before him with his mark on one of the most intimate parts of her body made him smile.

Myrkr saw his smile, rolled her eyes, and pulled him down to hug her. She forcibly snuggled him until she was about to fall asleep.

"My dear, it's nearly dinner time," he said, brushing her hair away from her face.

"I'm not hungry," she dismissed.

"We are supposed to eat with my family tonight," he reminded.

"No," she told him. "Not tonight."

"Yes, Mother reminded me before we went riding," he contested.

She snickered at the double entendre. "I don't care. You're staying here with me in this bed until one of us absolutely has to get up."

He laughed. "We will be here for a very long time then."

"I'm serious," she said, placing a firm hand on his chest.

He sighed. "I will cancel dinner."

"Good," she nodded and rested her head on his shoulder.

"But I will have to get up send the message. If we simply don't show up, they will worry and send someone to check on us," he warned.

She frowned and let him go. "Fine, do that then."

"Thank you," he said, shaking his head with exasperation. He quickly slipped on some clothes, wrote a note, and found the nearest servant to deliver his message. When he returned to the bed, she gave him a look that said she would kick him back out if he tried to lay back down before taking his clothes off again, so he stripped back down before climbing up next to her, making sure the curtain was completely pulled before settling in.

"Thank you," she told him once they were cuddling again.

He nodded. "It's fine. After what happened today, I wasn't exactly in a hurry to see my brother again. I don't think I could stomach yet another apology."

From there, he told her about his little adventure to get her the frozen grapes that had so thoroughly restored her good humor. When he was finished, she gave him an odd look.

"What is it? I hope you're not angry that I lied to Sif," he said.

"No, it's just that there is no marriage concept on Jotunheim. There is no monogamous promise," she tried to explain.

"And yet you show such a dedicated preference to me," he mused.

She seemed put off by that, but couldn't think of a good way to explain how she felt.

"So if there is no marriage, then what is there?" he prompted.

She thought for a long moment. "The marking places I showed you earlier. You asked if you could have more than one," she began.

"You said that it was uncommon for one individual to leave multiple marks. Are you saying I got carried away? That I was out of line?" he asked, half defensive and half worried.

Myrkr smiled and kissed him. "No. It's fine. If another Jotun were to see your work, they might consider you a bit greedy, maybe overzealous, but they would understand that as a reflection of the depth of our relationship. They would see it as you taking on twice the responsibility."

"I have been known to be avaricious from time to time," he mused. "So, you're saying that those slots would usually be left to be filled by others," he presumed.

She nodded. "Relationships on Jotunheim are more like a network. The more allies one has, the better off they are. On person can have up to eight close allies, though most adults usually have five or so."

He sat in contemplative silence for a long time after that. "Why had no one chosen you as their ally?"

"Because I was promised to a son of Asgard," she answered. "Laufey insisted that no marks would be given to or received by me."

"Why is that?" he pressed.

"Those who mark an individual are considered allies to each other for the purposes of maintaining the well being of the one they marked. They become connected through that person. It is similar to the concept of blood brothers here in Asgard. If someone had chosen to make that attachment to me, it would have been very difficult for them to watch me go off to Asgard and commit myself monogamously to a stranger," she explained. "And it was unlikely that if I had become attached to someone that they would have been able to come with me."

Loki nodded and held her close. She had given him a lot to think about, and in spite of himself, recently he had found he did his best thinking while laying in her arms. She appreciated that and let the matter go.


	12. A Husband's Fancy

Loki excused himself from dinner early the following evening. They were dining with his parents to make up for their absence the night before. He stayed long enough to have dessert with them but not a moment longer, saying that he had some important matters to attend to, urging Myrkr to stay and chat as long as she like. However, the lingering kiss he gave her before leaving said that she shouldn't stay too long.

"You have no idea how much it pleases me to know that you two are finally getting along," Frigga said warmly.

Myrkr smiled. "It was bound to take a while. Our backgrounds are so different that we needed time to get to know one another."

"I heard you had quite a bit of fun yesterday," Odin said with a chuckle.

Myrkr nearly choked on her wine. "Oh?"

"Well, yes, of course. I'm happy our first snow fall was so heavy this season. That is not always the case," he said.

She laughed self-consciously. "Ah-haha. Yes, I had missed the snow more than I realized. I had been trying not to think about it, knowing that the waiting would only make it take longer."

"That is very wise," he praised.

They made small talk for a short while after that before Myrkr politely excused herself.

After she left, Frigga turned to her husband. "We are very fortunate."

"Indeed. We had no idea what sort of individual would have come out of that scraggly little runt Laufey presented to us all those years ago," Odin mused.

"I know it's very selfish of me to say, but I don't want to send her home," Frigga confessed.

"I understand how you feel," he said, placing a comforting hand on his wife's arm. "But she has to visit Jotunheim once a year," he reminded.

Frigga nodded sadly. "I hope she comes back," she whispered.

"She will," he assured.

On her way back to their chambers, Myrkr couldn't help smiling to herself. The look in Loki's eyes when he left told her that he was up to something, and that was almost always amusing at the very least. Even though she was expecting something from him, she was still surprised by what she found.

She entered their door and locked it behind her. He wasn't in the sitting room, but that wasn't surprising. She stood quietly and listened, she could hear his softly panting breath a short distance away. It was difficult not to run to him.

Myrkr peeled off her clothes as she moved quickly into their bedroom. She threw back the curtain surrounding their bed and saw nothing but an empty and exquisitely made bed. Her eyes grew wide and her hands began to shake as she made a small sound of frustration.

That sound made Loki chuckle, and she realized that she had just not gone quite far enough to find him. She turned and quietly moved toward their shared bathroom. She moved past the front portion containing their sinks and mirrors and back toward their large bathtub. When he first showed it to her, it was apparent that it was designed to hold two people. They had never used it together. Every time she had come in while he was bathing, the steam made her uncomfortable, and when he came to her, the water was far too cold for him to stand. Though that would be remedied almost as soon as they touched, they did have to occasionally break contact, and the shock of changing back, even just a little, was more than enough to kill the mood.

This was a little different. She could see the steam coming off his bath water, but the open window on the other side of the room kept it from collecting in the air around them. In addition to making her more comfortable, it also made it easier for her to see her husband lazily reclined in their tub and leisurely stroking himself.

He knew by her soft gasp that she was only a few feet from him, but she was staring at him so intently that he didn't bother acknowledging her right away. Only a few sounds of self-induced pleasure from him had her awkwardly shifting her weight as she watched him.

"Hello, darling," he said with a wink.

She tried to reply properly to that, but when she tried to speak, all that came out was a strange little squeak. Pursing her lips in frustration, she tried again. "I see you started without me."

He smirked. "Just getting warmed up," he taunted.

"Get out of there so we can play together," she urged.

"But if I get out of this very relaxing hot water, then you'll be all over me," he replied with feigned innocence.

"That's the point," she nearly growled.

He smiled cheekily up at his wife. "But then I won't be able to repay you for that lovely show you gave me the other night."

She gasped. "You mean to-" She couldn't even finish her sentence.

"I mean to show you a few of the things that I like to do when I'm excited and left to my own devices," he told her very deliberately. "It's only fair."

"You don't have to do that," she said before licking her lips at how he easily continued to stroke himself. "I watched you while I was...showing you what I did with that thing under the bed," she managed.

He laughed a little. "You weren't really paying attention to me," he dismissed. "And you weren't supposed to be. You may have happened to see me touch myself during your exposition, but you were very distracted. I think your eyes rolled almost as much as your hips," he teased.

"You're not going to let me talk you out of this, are you?" she asked, her fingers twitching at her sides.

"I remember a moment several months ago when I mentioned that I was quite adept at taking care of myself. You seemed intrigued," he noted.

Myrkr pursed her lips. She almost couldn't stand that he was sitting right in front of her but couldn't touch him without burning herself. "Please, at least get out of the water," she coaxed.

He thought about it for a moment, enjoying how her eyes continued to rake up and down his body. "If I do, will you promise not to touch me while I show you what I do for myself? If I recall, you made a similar request of me."

"You're just doing this to tease me," she accused weakly.

He grinned mischievously. "Of course I am, but only in the best possible way."

"I should touch you right now. A good scalding should motivate you," she threatened.

"If I am burned, then I will be out of commission for quite a lot longer than what I am suggesting," he countered.

Myrkr took a deep breath and stepped backward. "Okay, I will try to be good, to sit and watch."

"I do appreciate your indulgence," he said as he stood and grabbed his towel.

She took another step back away from him as he dried off and stepped out of the tub.

"I didn't realize it was so difficult for you to keep from touching me," he teased as he started out of the bathroom.

She tried to glare but the sight of his beautiful back and perfectly toned ass made her whimper. It took almost all of her self control to keep from tackling him. She knew he was lying. There was no way he could have overlooked how intently she stared at him or the way her fingers twitched when he was within arm's reach. She knew these tells were especially bad before they were intimate because after she felt comfortable flirting with him, which eased the tension of her repressed desires. With a sigh, she followed him into the bedroom. He motioned for her to take a seat in the chair on his side of the bed, and she obliged, making a point to sit with her legs crossed.

"As you suggested the other night, I would not be offended if you felt the need to touch yourself while you watch me," he said with a smirk.

"Are you sure I won't be distracting? You seemed quite taken with me the other night," she sniped.

"You were quite captivating," he told her as he pulled a vial of oil from his bedside stand. "I can only hope that I can capture your attention so fully." When he said that, he made very intense eye contact with her, the kind that told her that he was completely serious.

Myrkr felt her stomach flutter. "We'll see," she managed. She was sure he would be able to do exactly what he set out to do, and it wasn't that she didn't want to see him like that. She had no qualms with the idea that he knew how to pleasure himself, and found it oddly endearing that he seemed so excited by the idea of putting on a show for her. It was the complete opposite of her situation the night before last.

She put herself on display at his urging. She felt exposed. Though she knew he wouldn't intentionally make her feel bad about what she did, she couldn't help wondering if she was somehow strange in how she gave herself pleasure. It was something she had never had to be self-conscious about before because she always made sure she was alone. The very idea of being watched had never crossed her mind. She had worried, from time to time, about being caught in the act, but she had always been very careful to avoid such an embarrassing scenario.

Loki seemed to enjoy making a spectacle of himself. She could tell he'd put some thought into his presentation. He knew what she liked, and he intended to exploit it for the sake of his amusement, which was something he got off on. It wasn't that his display was dishonest, but it was executed with an awareness of his audience.

Myrkr's lips quivered when she watched him pour just a few drops of oil onto his cock and begin rubbing it in. It smelled sweet like the first blossoms of spring.

"This isn't fair," she complained.

He didn't falter, his hand running easily up and down his length with slow, calculated motions, occasionally twisting at the top as the head of his cock emerged from his foreskin. "How's that?"

"It's not the same, I didn't ask for this, and you know I like you better when you're blue," she listed fitfully. She couldn't believe she was complaining. He was so incredibly sexy like that, all sprawled out on their bed and getting harder with each stroke. She was just so embarrassed. Without realizing it, she felt as though he was trying to illustrate to her how to put on a proper erotic display for one's lover, like she had done something wrong.

He smiled affectionately. "Of course it's not the same. We are very different people, and we both know you would never ask for something like this, even if you were curious. You were embarrassed when you shared your private pleasure with me. I want to show you that it's nothing to be ashamed of, that no matter what you do, as long as you enjoy it, then it's sexy to me. And we can't do anything about the hue of my skin without touching, which I'm not ready for yet," he teasingly added.

She crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. "I won't help you finish," she told him tartly.

"That's the spirit," he said with a wink. Then, he started to stroke himself a more purposefully, squeezing harder, moving faster. He reached down with his other hand and started massaging his testicals, gently rolling them with his fingers. During all this, he let out a series of soft, panting moans.

Myrkr uncrossed and recrossed her legs with her other leg on top. Just that made her realize how wet she was already. When he took a deep, jagged breath at the feeling of finally pulling back his foreskin and fully exposing the head of his cock to the cool air, she was somewhat thankful that he was in Asgardian form. At least that way, his sense of smell wasn't nearly as good, something that made her smile a little.

"There's that beautiful smile I love so much," he crooned, turning part way up onto his side to see her better.

"I was just pitying Asgardian males. You have to rely on very subtle and often misleading clues to determine how attracted someone is to you," she mused haughtily.

"It is quite sad...for most men," he said, a little grunt of satisfaction interrupting his reply. "I'm actually quite adept at reading the body language of others. You're not so different from an Asgardian woman, you know," he taunted.

She huffed again.

"Your eye dilate and your skin darkens when you're excited. On top of that your eye color actually darkens when you're aroused, which is a clue our pink-skinned females do not exhibit," he elaborated. "And your feminine anatomy is actually very similar," he added, licking his lips. "You self-lubricate in anticipation of your lover and the little hood of flesh covering that precious bundle of nerves swells ever so slightly when you're excited."

She blushed even harder both at his words and the way he groaned as he was speaking them. She watched him take in a sharp breath through gritted teeth as he began to pump himself harder. She even flinched a little when he began squeezing his balls, but apparently it wasn't hard enough to cause him any pain. She could see the pressure building within him. His cock was engorging further, and he looked like he was about burst, but then he all but stopped.

Myrkr bit her lip and watched with bated breath as he eased himself back from the brink of orgasm. "I-I didn't realize you liked to tease yourself," she said softly as his breath began to slow.

He chuckled. "I tease everyone, and where would be the fun in finishing as quickly as possible? It's not as though we're strapped for time."

In spite of herself, she smiled. His ease and humor helped her relax and made her realize that she'd been gripping the arms of his chair so tightly that her fingers were getting stiff. With a flicker of self-consciousness, she let go and stretched and massaged her hands.

"If you held me that tightly, you'd probably leave bruises," he teased. Then, before she could reply, he turned away from her.

She felt a slight pang of worry, but quickly realized that he wasn't turning away from her as much as turning toward something else. When he turned ninety degrees and rolled onto his belly, she was afforded a perfect view of his backside. His legs spread as he reached over her side of the bed. She was so wrapped up in watching him, studying the shape and color of his most private area, that she didn't realize what he was doing until after he pulled the wooden box up onto the bed.

When Loki heard her anxious gasp, he turned and looked over his shoulder. With a cheeky smirk, he raised his ass a few inches and wiggled it at her. "You like?" he crooned.

She did, but she was too distracted to admit to it. "What's that for?" she asked, pointing at the wooden box.

Loki flipped it open and pulled out the glass phallus, pushing the rest away before grabbing the vial of oil. "When I said I wished I'd known about this gift sooner, it wasn't only because I enjoy the thought of you using it," he said as he poured a little of the oil onto his fingers and reached back to rub it on his backside.

"Y-You're...not going to-" She couldn't even finish her sentence. That was happening a lot lately, and she would have found it irritating if she'd realized it. Her eyes grew wide as she watched him spread the oil around before sticking the tip of his finger inside himself. Whatever sound she would have made in response to that caught in her throat because she wanted to hear the little noises he made, little grunts and tight, heated little sighs.

He did this only as long as was needed to make sure his entrance as as lubricated as necessary. Then, he got up on his knees and spread the rest of the oil onto the glass phallus.

"What is that stuff?" she asked as she watched him carefully stroke every curve. Because of the book she'd been given, the one sitting in the open box a few feet from her husband, she already had a pretty good idea, but the near silence, punctuated only by his sexy sounds, was starting to get to her.

He snickered. "A very slick oil, for those of us who don't get wet on our own," he answered. "There are many different varieties, if you'd like to try it sometime. They have different properties, though you probably wouldn't care much for this one," he mused.

"And why's that?" she tried not to snap. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate the impromptu lesson, but she didn't like his assumption that she wouldn't like something she'd never tried.

"Because it's warming," he answered simply. When she didn't seem to quite understand, he tossed her the vial. There were still a couple of drops lingering in the bottom. He watched with interest as she shook the remaining contents into her fingers.

Her reaction wasn't instantaneous because it took a few seconds for it to take effect, but she gasped at the feeling of the little droplets warming her skin. It wasn't enough to make her uncomfortable, but she could see how a lot of the stuff would. Out of curiosity, she opened her legs, spread her lips with her other hand, and carefully touched herself with her oil-slickened fingers. He made her gasp and shudder. "I dunno, a little doesn't seem so bad," she half-joked as she tried to catch her breath.

"Hey, now, you're getting distracted," he playfully scolded.

Myrkr looked up at her husband to see that he was now on his knees, leaning forward on one hand, and using his other to slide the slick phallus between his cheeks. She tried to apologize, but when she looked down a little further and saw his cock twitching in response, she lost her words.

"That's more like it," he said haughtily. Now that he had her full attention again, he positioned the head of the phallus at his opening, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly as he relaxed enough to start pushing inside.

Myrkr watched in awe as he slowly pushed the length two thirds of the way into his body. He stopped there to catch his breath before pushing just a little further. On the peripheral of her vision, she noticed that when he started to turn in inside him, he started to claw at the sheets beneath him. Then, when he angled it just right, his toes curled and he let out a whimpering moan. Once he found the right spot, he started to slowly thrust in and out.

"You've done this before," she said quietly when he settled into a rhythm.

Loki grunted in agreement.

"With another person?" she blurted out.

He smirked. "Some of the times."

Myrkr felt her stomach flutter at the mental image of some other man bending over her husband and impaling him and having them both enjoy it.

"Don't tell me that when you were asking about me you only spoke with the women," he joked between panting breaths.

She laughed nervously. "The men were less willing to elaborate," she managed.

"I demanded a higher degree of discretion from them. It's good to know they took that seriously," he mused. It was getting harder for him to speak properly.

Myrkr let it go at that. Anything else they wanted to say could wait, and she felt obliged to watch him as closely as possible, so closely in fact that she didn't realize she'd started rubbing herself until she was on the verge of orgasm. It was almost too much to sit by and watch him pleasure himself. He wasn't even touching his cock anymore, concentrating solely on penetrating himself with the warm, oiled glass. His length hung down between his legs, hard and dripping and jerking with every hard thrust. His hips rolled back as he leaned down on elbow. He wanted to rest his shoulders against the soft mattress but he knew it would muffle the sounds he was making, sounds that he knew she greatly enjoyed.

As he got closer to his peak, his breath came in shallow pants periodically interrupted by tight moans. It had been a while since he'd gotten off like that, by penetration but leaving his cock untouched. He was tempted to reach down with his other hand and jerk himself off to finish, but he wanted her to see it unobstructed because the vision of her womanhood contracting around nothing while she humped the phallus resting on his pillows had turned him on so much. He knew it would take longer, but with how intensely she was staring at him, watching his every move, listening to every little sound, it was hardly a deterrent.

When he did finally climax, it was not at all what he expected. On the onset of orgasm, he instinctively screwed his eyes shut. He'd meant to try to watch her reaction, but he just couldn't manage it. This was why he didn't see her get up from his chair and why he hardly noticed the bed shift as she climbed up behind him. All he knew was the intense pleasure of his release as he pounded himself, probably a little harder than necessary in an effort to make up for not touching himself. Just as he started to spill himself onto their sheets, he felt something clamp onto his inner thigh. He was quickly distracted from that feeling by the deliciously searing heat caused by the oil in and around his backside. What started out as a deep groan of satisfaction turned into a choked out, gasping cry of pleasure.

As he came down from what was probably the most intense and confusing orgasm of his life, Loki slowly withdrew the phallus. He held onto it for a second before dropping it onto the bed and rolling down onto his side.

"Y-You lied," he panted, a stupid smile threatening to overtake his features.

"Sorry?" she said impishly as she licked the quickly forming bruise on his thigh. "You were too sexy. I couldn't help myself."

He just gave a tired laugh and pulled her up to kiss her. "It's still amazing to me that you could bite me so hard and it doesn't hurt in the slightest."

She smiled and kissed the bruise on his chest.

"What did you think of me?" he asked. He managed to hide most of his self-consciousness.

"I think you know a lot more about these things than I do," she said, not bothering to hide how self-conscious that made her.

"You've done quite a bit of reading. I've just got more experience," he dismissed. "I really do appreciate your willingness to indulge me in these matters. I know it makes you uncomfortable."

"It's uncomfortable because I don't feel like I know what I'm doing. Otherwise, it's pretty exciting," she confessed. To prove her point, she took his hand and put it between her legs.

He was amazed at how wet she was. "How did that oil feel?" he asked curiously.

"Like I said, a little was sort of nice. It was warm and tingly, though I can see how much more than that would be too much," she hedged.

She was about to say more, but he took the initiative at that point and pushed two fingers into her, making her moan and arch her back up off the bed. He wasted no time in rolling his fingers against her sweet spot, and when she started to buck against him, he firmly wrapped his left arm around her right leg, using that leverage to hold her to the mattress so that he could flick her clit with the tip of his tongue.

Myrkr came hard seconds later, her body curling up to him, fingers tangling in his dark hair as she nearly screamed before falling back to the bed breathless.

With a cocky smirk, he kissed her thigh and moved back up to cuddle her. Once she was asleep, he did as she had the night before last. It had taken him a little bit the following morning to realize that she had cleaned up a bit and put things away before really settling into bed. He felt a little bad that after all she'd done for him, she had to do that, so he felt obliged to do the same. He found that crawling back into bed with her after that was even more satisfying than drifting to sleep with her in the first place.


	13. Shift

The next several months passed without incident. Myrkr made the absolute most of the winter season, dragging Loki along whenever she got the chance. When he wasn't available, she made someone else go with her. She and Sif made amends, though in her mind, there was nothing to make up for. She assured her friend that there was no harm done and that Loki was exaggerating when he said that she would have killed them for interrupting them. A good snowball fight with the warriors three put all of them back on good terms, and Thor was more than willing to supervise his sister-in-law when no one else was available, since it usually got him out of doing some kind of boring courtly duty. She didn't like that she wasn't allowed to leave the castle unaccompanied, but she did understand the reasoning behind it. Everything was going very well until one afternoon Odin reminded Loki of something rather important.

"She has to go back to Jotunheim," the Allfather told his younger son.

"What for? She's happy here," Loki replied irritably. He already knew why, but he was feeling childish.

"It will only be for a short time, and it is in the treaty. What makes you think she wouldn't want to see her homeland? She has been here nearly a year. Please don't tell me you could leave your home for a year and not miss it even a little," he said.

Loki frowned.

"She is required to pay respects to her king," Odin informed. "If she does not do at least that, then it appears that we are holding her hostage."

"I'm going with her," he muttered.

"Of course you are, along with a small escort party," the Allfather curtly replied, then sighed. "Not the best anniversary present, but perhaps when you return, we will have a feast to mark the occasion."

Loki nodded vaguely. "Do _they_ know what I am?"

Odin frowned. "Not that I've heard. The Jotun who touched you during your brother's skirmish died by his hammer."

"What if they do know?" he pressed.

"Then we will cross that bridge when we come to it," he dismissed.

"They will find out while I am there. It will be impossible to keep from touching everything," Loki insisted. "I think you want them to find out."

"Loki, I respect your unwillingness to reveal yourself right away," Odin began.

"_My_ unwillingness?" he exclaimed. "If you wanted as son from Jotunheim, then you should have raised me as one. You shouldn't have disguised me as one of you!"

"I didn't disguise you," Odin dismissed.

"When you told me about my true parentage, you said that you changed my appearance so that I wouldn't feel any different," he bitterly reminded.

"No, I said you were enchanted," the Allfather corrected. "Loki, you are a shapeshifter. That wasn't a learned skill. It was something you were born with and learned to use over time. I didn't change your appearance, though I may have helped you maintain it at times. Your defense mechanisms kicked in when I first picked you up."

Loki stood stunned for a long moment after that, then said. "Then I am not a frost giant?"

Odin sighed. "You are Laufey's biological son."

Loki frowned deeply. "And my _biological_ mother?" he asked in a low voice.

"That I do not know," he replied as evenly as he could. "The point is that you can control the transformation from Asgardian and Jotun."

"And what a point it is," Loki grumbled. "Why not tell me this sooner? When you told me about being adopted, that would have been a good time," he wryly suggested.

Odin tried not to roll his eye. "I fell into the Odinsleep before we could finish our conversation," he reminded. "And I know you well enough to say that you would have used any excuse at your disposal to keep from getting close to Myrkr. I had considered telling you after I woke, but with as bitter as you were already, I figured it could wait."

Loki grumbled some more, but he knew his father was right.

"You have two weeks to prepare," Odin said and then dismissed him.

Loki left in a huff. He spoke to no one for several hours before calming down enough to tell his wife about the conversation he'd just had. If she was surprised, it didn't show.

"That's good, right? It'll be even easier to keep your secret if you can control the transformation. Interesting defense mechanism," she said with a wink. "I suppose you'll want to practice on me."

He pursed his lips. "That would be preferable. Between you and the casket, I should be able to control my form well enough to pass for Asgardian without any trouble."

"How long are we staying in Jotunheim?" she asked.

"Six nights minimum," he answered.

She nodded. "Alright, and how many escorts will be coming with us?"

"I have yet to work that out. I will keep you apprised of the details," he promised.

"I know you will."

Controlling his transformations when they stemmed from a defense mechanism was not something that Loki was accustomed to, but once he figured out what changes needed to be made to his approach, he was able to hold whatever form he chose with relatively little concentration. Myrkr did insist, however, that he practice holding his Jotun form for extended periods as well as any others that he experimented with.

She seemed disappointed when he could hold his Asgardian form while in full body contact with her, which he made up for by being able to maintain his Jotun appearance when they were not touching. She also liked surveying the reactions he gave while touching her when he was in different forms.

"Your pink skin doesn't like me," she mused, pushing him down and laying atop him. She pushed his shirt up and pressed her chest against his.

Loki gasped. It was most difficult to hold his form at times like these. The chill of her skin was exciting but it also set off his instinct to change into something that didn't flinch so much.

"I wonder," she said with an impish grin as she tugged at the top of his pants. She enjoyed flirting with him while he was trying to keep this form because it seemed to mess with his concentration.

He gave a nervous laugh. "Why so hasty?"

She smirked and reached down into his pants, taking firm hold of his half-erect cock. "This part of you isn't quite sure what to think," she teased. "It shrinks away from the cold but it knows my touches are good. Perhaps Fandral was right. You wouldn't have been capable of intimacy with me in this form."

"Challenge accepted," he said surely, but before they could get much further than that, there was a knock at their door.

"Are you expecting someone?" she asked irritably.

"You made me forget that I had something I wanted to discuss with you," he chided as he moved her aside.

Myrkr pouted as she watched him situate his clothes. "You owe me," she told him.

He nodded graciously and went to answer the door. She poked her head around the corner enough to see that it was Thor, but Loki told him that he had yet to speak with Myrkr and that he would call for him later if necessary.

"What was that all about?" she asked as she stepped around the corner.

Loki pursed his lips and turned to face his wife. "There's something we need to discuss."

Myrkr's stomach sank. "What's wrong?"

He tried to smile. "Nothing. It's just sort of important, that's all." He pulled out her seat next to the window and poured them each a glass of wine before taking his seat across from hers. "It's about your return to Jotunheim."

Her concerned frown turned into a slight smile. "We've already discussed all that, and you can control your transformations now. What's there to talk about?"

"I want to know what to expect once we're there," he told her seriously.

"It's not like Laufey entertains very often. We will arrive and be lead to the court where we will be presented to the King and his advisors. I use the term advisors loosely. They will be the strongest and most cunning. We will feast together. There will be a space set aside for us, though the privacy that you are accustomed to will not be an option. They will ask us questions. At some point, you will likely receive some kind of challenge. It is up to you to decide whether to accept. It will make no difference either way. Just don't die," she warned him.

"Sounds like quite the party," he mused darkly. "How will we be received? Are you going to be welcomed back? Or will there be hostility toward you for staying in Asgard for so long?"

"That depends," she dawdled, taking a long sip of wine.

"On what?" he pressed.

"On whether we bring with us the Casket," she answered grimly.

"Odin gifted to you the Casket. Technically, it's yours to do with as you please, though I don't think he'll be pleased to see it leave the vault after only a year of your being here," Loki theorized.

"I'm not taking it anywhere," she told him firmly. "That will make my people very unhappy, but it's for the best."

"And that means what for us?"

"I wish you didn't have to come with me," she said quietly.

"I'm not going to let anything happen to you," he assured, taking her hand allowing himself to transform.

"It's not that simple. Laufey gave me to Asgard because of the Allfather's promise that the Casket would be returned to Jotunheim. Returning without it will imply that Odin has not kept his word," she reminded.

"Then we should take it with us," he urged.

"No," she asserted. "Like Mjolnir, the Casket is both a tool to build and a weapon to destroy. Laufey still lusts for war. If it is returned now, he will only use it for destruction. That is blood I do not want on my hands. I'll have to convince him that the Casket is in my power, and it is my decision to leave it where it is for the time being."

"And if you can't?"

She smiled, but there was no joy in it. "It is our only chance of getting back to Asgard. If I fail to convince him, then you will be held hostage and I'll be killed. If we take it with us, then he has no reason to send us back, and we will be cut off from your world with little chance of making it back alive."

Loki sighed. "I was afraid you would say something like that, which was why Thor was here earlier."

"What does he have to do with it? He's not coming with us, is he? That would only make things more difficult. They trust him even less than the Allfather," she reminded.

"No, Thor will not be allowed on this trip, something that disappoints him greatly," he chuckled wryly. "He volunteered several times to lead our escort party, but I refused. After what happened, I knew he would not be welcome."

"Then why are we talking about him?" she pressed anxiously. She loved her brother-in-law deeply. It was the warmest familial relationship she'd ever had, but she understood his limitations.

"Because while he may not be trusted on Jotunheim, he still commands a certain level of respect. I think it would be beneficial for us to invoke his authority even though he will not be coming along," he reasoned.

Myrkr was obviously not amused by this. "What? Have you finally learned to lift the hammer?" she sniped.

Loki tried not to get angry at that. "Sadly no, but there are other ways, ways that you taught me," he said, pulling the collar of his shirt aside to reveal the bruise on his chest, the one she'd kept fresh ever since she'd been allowed to make it.

Her expression darkened. "It would hurt," she threatened, though she wasn't entirely sure of that for either of them.

"It doesn't matter if it hurts or not. If what you told me is true, it would show that no matter where we are, we are under the protection of Asgard," he insisted.

"We?" she nearly gasped, surprised that he was suggesting it for himself as well.

Loki sighed. "Yes. Unfortunately, I think it would be best if we both bore his mark."

That eased her, but only a little. "And you've already spoke to him about this?" The idea that she was not the first to hear of his plan did not please her.

"Nothing specific, just hinted that there may be a way he can support us without actually going anywhere. Naturally, he was very eager for the opportunity," he replied.

"No, I won't have it. You can let your brother mark you. That is your right and something I can't stop, but I made it my entire life without the mark of another, without the commitment or alliances that those marks represent. I don't need it now," she said as she stood, taking a few steps away and crossing her arms over her chest.

Loki sighed and walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing the side of her neck. Now that the weather was warming up, that was easier to do because she was starting to tie up her hair more often. He had allowed the mark on her shoulder to heal and disappear in favor of maintaining the ones on her chest and thigh. He liked those implications better and enjoyed being symmetrical with his wife.

"Please reconsider," he urged gently. "I do not ask many things of you. I have done everything in my power to make this place a home for both of us. You can't blame me for taking the only precaution I can think of to ensure that we both return here together and intact."

"No, I don't blame you for it," she said quietly. "Either way, he won't like it. He won't approve," she tried.

"My brother is much more open minded than you give him credit for," Loki chided. "He has always given your ways the benefit of the doubt. When I first told him about the markings, not long after we were caught coupling in the snowy fields, he kept his apprehension in check. He was curious and asked many questions. He, like me, couldn't believe that such a fierce affection could be without pain."

"_Our_ affections were without pain," she amended.

He didn't argue. "One thing I was certain of was that he was fascinated by it. I think he liked the idea, if only because it is not something that one can lose. It cannot be bartered or lost or stolen. It is an ever present reminder of the loved one who gave it," he told her.

Myrkr hesitated.

Loki touched her shoulder. "A mark of protection from the future king of Asgard, first born son of the Allfather and wielder of the great hammer, would carry much weight and lift some of that weight from our shoulders."

She still couldn't look at him. "Send for Thor," she requested.

"Thank you," Loki replied. "I will get him myself."

When the brothers returned, Myrkr was standing at the open window sipping from her wine glass. Because her nudity made Thor uncomfortable, she took the liberty to slipping on a light robe. The breeze that came in through the window was cool, refreshing to any Asgardian. To her, it carried only the promise of the oppressive heat of the oncoming summer.

As Thor entered their sitting room, he said, "Thank you for letting me help you, but I don't understand how I'm supposed to do that if you won't let me come with you."

Myrkr didn't even turn around. "Tell him, Husband," she said flatly.

Loki wished she would at least try to be a little more positive about the whole thing. "We all know you are not exactly welcome on Jotunheim, but I have thought of a way for you to provide protection for us without having to leave Asgard."

"And how is that?" he asked hopefully, though the way Myrkr had yet to turn to look at them wasn't exactly reassuring.

"We require a token that illustrates your willingness to protect and aid us," Loki said.

"But of course, but what sort of token could I give you that would be respected by the Jotuns?" Then he winced at his word choice, "My Lady, I mean no offence."

Myrkr turned just enough to see him out of the corner of her eye, gave him a nod of understanding, and turned back to look out the window.

"It is true that the my Lady's people don't put much stock in the meaning of physical objects. The token we require is more...immaterial," he tried.

Thor's brow furrowed, and he was so busy trying to figure out what that could mean that he didn't notice that Myrkr had finally turned back around.

"Tell him," she insisted, not taking her eyes off the blonde prince.

"We request the mark of Thor in the place that indicates protection," Loki said formally.

Myrkr almost laughed. If they were on Jotunheim, they would have been a laughing stock. You didn't ask for other to protect you. You offered yourself, and they decided that they wanted to protect you.

"Mark?" he repeated as though he didn't quite understand. "You mean like.." he trailed off.

Loki pulled his collar aside, revealing Myrkr's mark on his chest.

"Brother, you know I'd do just about anything for you." Then he turned to Myrkr, "And for you," he added without hesitation. "But I do not think I am capable of doing this."

Myrkr tried to keep her scoff as quiet as possible. "I told you he wouldn't. It is too strange, too carnal."

"I mean no disrespect," Thor tried, but whatever protest he had to that seemed weak.

"It is the only way you can assist us. If this isn't something you think you can do, then you need to stop bothering me about the ways you can keep us safe when we leave Asgard," Loki lectured.

Thor grimaced. "May I have time to think on it?"

"We leave in two weeks," Loki said. Once his brother was gone, he turned to his wife. "He'll do it. He just needs a little while to think about it. It is not the sort of assistance that he is accustomed to lending, but he does truly care for the both of us."

"The mark of an Asgardian will not make as much of an impression as you seem to think it will," she informed. "But your brother is a special exception."

"That is often the case," Loki sighed.

"It might actually make a positive difference," she mused, then she turned to her husband. "He's marking you first," she asserted.

"As you wish," he agreed. He then pulled her into a tender embrace. "Thank you."

"When we get to my world, you will do as I have for you. You will follow my lead. I've taught you a thing or two about Jotunheim, but you might as well not know anything," she tried not to snap.

"Of course. I expect that your people would prefer to see you take the lead in our relationship," he theorized.

"Can your ego handle that?" she half-teased.

"We'll find out, won't we?" he replied haughtily, then grumbled, "After taking a backseat to Thor for all these years, I am accustomed to letting others lead. At least I know I can trust your judgement."

That made her smile. "And I suppose I should trust yours as well," she said with a guilty sigh.

"In everything else, you've done just that. I understand why you would question me in this," he conceded. From there, he took her into the bedroom, where they could pick up their more intimate activities. He laid her down on their bed and spread her legs, ducking down between them and wasting no time in tasting her.

"I still expect you to try to hold your current form for as long as you can," she taunted between gasping breaths.

He smiled and kissed the mark on her thigh. "As long as you can stand it," he countered. He had a feeling she would make such a request, which was why he'd chosen to start like this. There was something instinctively satisfying about tasting her while he was in Jotun form, but like this, she was more like the most delicious popsicle he'd ever tasted. He was more able to savor her natural flavor, which only seemed to be enhanced by the chill of her skin, and she was especially responsive to the heat of his tongue and lips.

She came almost as soon as he started sucking on her clit, her hips bucking high off the mattress as she moaned deeply. There was just something about the seemingly infernal heat of his mouth that made her hypersensitive. It was like her body didn't want to trust him but at the same time couldn't help herself.

He happily licked her clean as she recovered from her peak, laying back and panting as her fingers tangled in his hair. "As much as you complain about the heat, I think you actually quite like it," he teased as he pressed warm kisses into her womanhood.

Myrkr groaned. It did feel good, but it was almost too much. She almost asked him to change into Jotun form to ease the heat he had made between her legs but decided against it. It seemed important, somehow, to be with him like this. "I quite like you," she managed.

That made him smile. He always loved her willingness to say that she appreciated him regardless of what form he took. His smile grew as he crawled up her body, hovering a fraction of an inch above her without making contact because he enjoyed the feeling of the cold that radiated from her skin. She also seemed to enjoy the heat that came from him, and gasped sharply when he slowly laid down on her.

"You're like a fire, come to consume me," she said breathily, torn between grabbing him as tightly as she could and pushing him away with all her might.

His smile grew and he kissed her cheek, watching her skin darken further under his warm affections. "And you, my lovely Lady, are the cold that freezes and preserves all it touches," he replied. He wasted little time after that to push into her, knowing that prolonged exposure to her cold skin without increased sensual contact would kill his erection, something neither of them wanted.

She screamed when he entered her. It was their first time performing actual intercourse like this, and he was even hotter than she expected. It was like he was burning her up from the inside out, and she found the feeling much more intense and exciting than she expected. However, that combined with having him on top made her feel like she was going to suffocate, so she forcefully rolled them over and sat up, throwing her head back as she straddled his hips.

As Loki looked up at her, there was a certain desperation in her features that he had not seen before. She looked to be in an extreme state of pain tinted pleasure as her hips rhythmically. When she noticed his staring, she put her hands on his chest and leaned over him a little. "How are you feeling?" she asked. She tried to sound challenging, but she was really wondering if his experience was as intense as hers.

"Better than you it seems," he mused. He almost put his hands on her hips but thought better of it at the last second. "You are very cold, but I find it quite sensual," he confessed. "Perhaps I should change," he suggested carefully.

She tried to glare. "No, we finish like this," she insisted.

"But-" he reached up to brush a tear from her cheek.

She batted his hand away. "This is important," she told him seriously.

He nodded and took hold of her hips. If she was going to insist that they finish this way in spite of her comfort, he was going to end it as quickly as possible. He felt a little bad that he needed to slam into her with extra force to make up for the feeling lost from the cold, but she didn't seem to mind. Actually, his extra effort helped distract her from the discomfort she felt from his heat.

He came inside her only a few minutes later. As his body stilled, she swayed on top of him. When he saw her start to fall, he changed to Jotun form as he caught her, holding her close to his body. He pet her hair and whispered soothing things into her ear.

"We shouldn't have done that," he said when her breath evened out.

"Don't say that," she snapped weakly.

He sighed. "I suppose it was something that had to be done once," he conceded.

She didn't reply to that, just looked up at him with a strangely dark look in her eyes. "We will do it that way again," she told him.

He wasn't in the mood to argue with her. Instead, he summoned a clone of himself to pull the curtain around their bed and pick up some of their discarded clothing before allowing himself to fall asleep.


	14. Mark of Odinson

Thor came to his brother and sister-in-law's chambers a couple of days later. He had been hoping to speak with Loki but only found Myrkr.

"You've been avoiding me," she said as he closed the door behind him.

"My apologies. Loki's proposal has made me somewhat uncomfortable," he confessed.

She smiled and motioned for him to sit with her. He nodded and obliged. "You're not the only one."

"I noticed the other day that you seemed less than pleased with what Loki suggested," he prompted hopefully.

"He is taking advantage of the only means available for him to help ensure our safety while we are away from here," she sighed.

"He is just being overly cautious, though, right? These are your people we are talking about. Considering your status, there is no reason to assume either of you will be in danger," he reasoned.

"As far as Laufey is concerned, I serve one purpose. I am to return the Casket of Ancient Winters to him. Failing to do so will not sit well. When he realizes that it is not a failure but an outright unwillingness on my part will only make matters worse," she explained.

"Not that I really want him to have the Casket, but why defy him? He is your King," he reminded.

Myrkr scoffed. "Because it belongs to Jotunheim, not to one person. He desires its power for conquest, but that will only bring more trouble to my world. Even if his ventures are successful, such successes do not come without a price. The people are still rebuilding. It would go faster with the power of the Casket, but that is not what it would be used for. It needs to stay here until we have a leader who is worthy of it," she lectured.

"And you are fit to decide who leads your people?" he asked. He didn't mean to sound indignant, but it did sort of come out that way.

"No," she sighed. "But it just so happens that the Casket is in my possession. I would rather sacrifice myself than let Laufey have it. I'm sorry that your brother got dragged into it," she told him seriously.

"Do you think that bearing my mark will make a difference? As Loki said, I'm not exactly loved on Jotunheim," he joked bitterly.

She smiled. It was a small smile, but it was still there. "I'm not sure how significant it would be, but it is not something that would go unnoticed. As I told Loki, the mark of an Asgardian would not carry as much weight, but your status and obvious willingness to protect loved ones is known and not taken lightly," she answered.

"So it would be good?" he tried.

She shook her head in exasperation. "It would be meaningful, but also carry a stigma. The only marks I would carry would be from the sons of Odin. It would make it difficult for the people to trust my motives while at the same time proving that I have earned your trust."

"You seemed against it before. Now you seem less sure," he noted.

"It would actually mean quite a lot to me if you wanted to do such a thing," she said, unable to look him in the eye. "I was being stubborn. Before Loki, no one had ever marked me. It hurt because that meant I was an outcast. I had no one to come to my aid in times of need because they didn't want to get involved with someone in my position, but in time, I learned to make it a point of pride. I survived for a very long time without that sort of attachment. In a way, giving up that feels like a moment of weakness," she told him sadly.

He smiled at her. "I will do this thing for you. Not because you are weak, but because you are unbelievably strong. I want to be associated with your strength. I want your people to know that I think you are worth protecting," he asserted proudly.

She sniffled a little but was smiling. "As you wish," she said quietly.

"Should we call for Loki?" he proposed. Now that the decision was made, he didn't want to dwell on it.

"He's in the library, and I'd rather not interrupt him. Besides, there are a few more things you need to know," she said.

"Like what?" He leaned forward a little.

"The marks you will be giving will be on our shoulders. One clean bite will do the trick. It needs to be a good, solid, unmistakable bruise," she told him.

He winced a little at the idea. "But it won't hurt, right?"

"I don't know," she hedged.

"Loki said that it didn't hurt," he reminded.

"We have very deep affection for one another. We both wanted the marks we gave each other, and at the times when they were given, we were in a very heightened emotional state." When she saw that he wasn't pleased by that, she added, "It doesn't matter if it hurts. Even if it does, the pain will not last."

He nodded, though he wasn't exactly satisfied. "What else?"

"You will not touch my neck," she told him sternly.

He gave her a strange look. Touching her neck was not something he had intended to do. "I won't," he promised. "Loki said that the marks have different meaning when they are on different parts of a person's body."

"That's true," she nodded.

"What does a mark on the neck mean?" he asked cautiously.

Myrkr's expression turned dark. "It would mean that you essentially own me, that I am your responsibility and that my life belongs to you."

Thor thought about that for a long moment. "I would let you leave your mark on my neck if it meant you would get back to Asgard safely."

She nearly dropped her glass. "That is very generous."

"I'm not saying it to be generous," he replied.

"Your physiology is different. It would hurt you," she warned, a slight smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

"It doesn't matter if it hurts," he quoted.

She shook her head in disbelief. "I appreciate what you're saying. Even if you don't really understand what it implies, it means a lot to me. What we've already discussed would be enough," she said.

"So what exactly does it mean when I mark your shoulder?" he asked.

"It means that I've given you my body and entrust you to protect it," she replied.

"Given me your body?" he repeated carefully. "Will they assume-?" he began but she stopped him before he had to say it.

"I doubt anyone will think we've been intimate, but it won't make any difference either way. As I've explained to Loki, there is no concept of monogamy in Jotun culture," she dismissed.

"Oh, alright." He didn't like the implication that he had slept with his brother's wife, but if the people he was trying to make an impression on didn't care, then he tried not to worry about it. "What about the matching ones you two have on your chests?" He pointed to the edge of the bruise he could see peeking out of the top of her shirt.

She gave a sly smile and pulled her collar aside so that he could see it better. "It shows that we have a preference for one another, and the fact that we have to be facing each other when it happens indicates a certain level of respect," she explained.

Thor blushed ever so slightly. He was by no means a prude. He'd had his fair share of sexual adventures, but she was different. She was both gorgeous and exotic and off limits. Even though he'd been incredibly intoxicated and on the verge of passing out when he'd kissed her all those months ago, he could still vividly remember his brother's rage, and while he knew that things were much different now, he still felt like he should err on the side of prudence where she was concerned. This was especially true when they were alone together in her chambers, a place where she was nearly naked more often than not.

"You don't have to worry so much," she teased. "Loki knows better now," she advised knowingly.

He fumbled his words a bit. "It is still startling to me that such a proper lady can so easily bare herself to anyone other than her husband and her handmaidens," he managed.

"My maids often stare at the marks on my body, but none of them has had the courage to ask about them. I think they assume that Loki is a very aggressive lover," she mused.

"Marks?" he repeated, though he hadn't meant to allowed. "I thought the one on your shoulder had healed."

She smiled. "Yes, we let that one heal."

"Oh, so you just have the one then," he tried.

"There is another one," she said slyly as she slowly started to draw up the bottom of her robe.

Thor swallowed hard. "I-I don't think that's necessary."

She cocked a coy eyebrow. "Oh? You don't want to see what a good, clean mark looks like? It's the better of the two because we weren't doing other things when he gave it to me," she said, continuing to lift her robe until it only barely covered her sex and the mark a short distance away.

The blond prince forced himself to look her in the eyes. When he finally did that, he could tell she was messing with him. "I'm sure," he said with a laugh. His eyes darted down to her lap and then back up to her face again. "Thanks for the offer, though," he said with a wink.

That made her blush. It was nice to be on such easy terms with him. He was friendly and familial the majority of the time, offering comfort and support when she needed it, but sometimes they could be flirty, and that was fun too.

She was just about to say something else when Loki came in. Just from his initial sweep of the room, he could see that he had interrupted a rather interesting conversation. "Don't let me interrupt," he teased.

"Your brother has just come to tell us that, after some thought, he has decided to give us his mark," she told her husband.

"Oh? Is that why you're blushing and lifting your robe? I thought we'd decided that they would be on our shoulders," he taunted, greatly enjoying the darkening blushes of both his wife and his brother.

"Loki, it's not-" Thor tired, but Myrkr raised her hand and he stopped.

"I was going to show him the cleanest mark you've ever given me. Really, it took you awhile to get the hang of it. The first few were awfully messy, no one would be able to tell they were from you. They might have even thought a wild animal had sunk its teeth into me," she countered.

He gave a little growl and moved up behind her. Thor wasn't sure, but he was fairly certain Loki was running his fingers up her spine. "I would have an easier time if you didn't squirm so much," he said with a lecherous smirk.

She shuddered, and he stepped away to pour himself a glass of wine, taking the liberty to top off their glasses as well. There was a long, awkward silence after that while Loki stared out the window and sipped his wine.

When the silence became too much for Thor, he stood and said, "My apologies, brother, this is your seat," he tried to step out of the way, but Loki stopped him.

"If I wanted to sit, I would have let you know," he dismissed and motioned for the blonde to sit back down. Then, he set down his glass. "I'll be right back," he said as he walked into the bedroom.

Thor leaned across the table. "Should I go? If there is a better time, I could come back then," he offered.

Myrkr laughed. "It's fine, and there really isn't a better time."

Loki returned a few moments later dressed in more comfortable clothes, most notably a loose shirt with a wide collar. "Myrkr has insisted that I go first, so if you wouldn't mind," he looked his brother.

Thor was suddenly nervous. "Of course, whatever you prefer," he replied. He tried to sound sure, but he really didn't know what he was doing.

Myrkr took pity on him. "Husband, while we did talk of a good number of things, we didn't get to discuss exactly how it's done," she said.

Loki nodded. "Stand behind me," he said because he did not want to face his brother while it was happening. He did, however, make a point to face his wife because her reassuring expression eased him. With an even sigh, he pulled aside the left side of his collar. When Thor continued to hesitate, he pointed to a spot at the top of his back a few inches from the juncture of his neck and shoulder.

"Go for the muscle, not the bone," Myrkr advised.

Thor nodded vaguely. He wasn't sure how Loki was going to react, so he carefully grabbed his brother's forearms before sinking his teeth into his flesh.

The dark haired prince winced and made an awkward choking sound.

"Breathe, sweetheart," Myrkr told her husband.

Thor made eye contact with Myrkr to make sure everything was okay. She nodded, so he started to back off.

"Not yet," she said quickly. "Harder, ease into it," she coached. "Just don't make him bleed. It's considered bad form," she half-joked.

Loki glared at her, but said nothing. It hurt far more than he was expecting, and though it wasn't unbearable, he was grateful when the pressure let up a short time later. When he reached up to touch the spot, she swatted his hand away as she pushed Thor to the side so that she could lick the bruise.

The blonde prince stood off to the side, feeling incredibly invasive as he watched her guage and nurse the wound he had inflicted on his own kin. It seemed like too intimate of a moment for him to see. "H-How did I do?" he asked quietly.

"This is actually quite good. Neither of you moved much, so you can see the pattern of your teeth very clearly," she praised before moving around to face her husband. "How do you feel?" she asked seriously.

"Like my brother has a very strong jaw," he joked wryly as he pulled his shirt back into place.

Thor's instinctive response to that was to apologize, but the look Myrkr gave him told him not to.

"My turn," she said with a warm smile. As she approached Thor, she looked at Loki. "Thank you for going first. The mark I get needs to be as clear as possible. There cannot be any mistaking it, or this whole exercise is pointless," she told him.

Loki had thought her insistence was an effort to force his hand and see if he would back out or to see if he intended to have her marked and not go through with it himself. He was actually impressed with her pragmatism, though he shouldn't have been by now.

Myrkr chose to face Thor. She looked up into his big blue eyes and smiled as she exposed her left shoulder. "It's okay," she said confidently. Then, she reached up, laced her fingers in his hair, and guided him down to the place where she wanted him to bite her.

Loki circled around them as it happened, watching with intense interest as his brother's teeth sank into his wife's perfect blue skin, then moving back around when he heard her heated gasp. Judging by her expression, she was not in pain. Her eyes even dilated and darkened a little as he held her tightly, trying his hardest to make sure he gave her the very best mark he could.

In spite of himself, Loki was disappointed that she wasn't in pain. In fact, she seemed to be enjoying herself. Even though he knew it was only a reflection of the trust and affection she had for his brother, it still sparked the protective jealousy he had not felt since Thor had drunkenly kissed. He knew it was foolish, but he couldn't help himself, and breathed a quiet sigh of relief, when Myrkr told Thor that was enough.

All this did not go unnoticed by the Jotun woman. She had been hoping to enjoy the moment, as it was a uniquely intimate experience for her, but there was no way she was going to let it end with Loki making the expression that he was. Just as Thor pulled away from her shoulder, she whispered, "You said this was okay," before biting the side of his neck.

Loki gasped sharply while Thor tensed. He'd nearly pushed her away. If it wasn't for her words of warning, he would have because the pain was so sudden and intense. For a moment, he thought she was going to tear out part of his throat, then she backed off. He even gave an unmistakable whimper when she licked it before letting him go.

The three of them stood together, staring stunned at one another for a long time after that.

"Why did you-?" Loki asked, his eyes darting between his wife and his brother.

"I told her it was okay," Thor answered for her.

She gave Loki a cocky little smile before excusing herself.

"Do you know what that means?" Loki asked accusingly as Thor went over to the mirror by the door to check out the quickly forming bruise on his neck. It was flawless.

"We discussed it," Thor dismissively replied. "You said I have a strong jaw, but I think hers might be stronger," he joked.

"This is serious. If a Jotun sees you, they will assume that she owns you," he insisted.

"I am aware of what it means," Thor snapped. "At least I didn't hurt her," he mused.

Loki tried not to sneer. "Because she trusts you."

"Does she make those sounds when you bite her? If she does, I can see why you're so eager to do it," he teased.

Loki cocked an eyebrow, wondering if maybe that extra helping of wine was too much. "The noises she makes for me are much better," he said with an arrogant smirk.

"Why did she lick me?" he asked curiously as he pulled his collar up, though it was quickly becoming apparent that would not cover her mark.

"Her saliva acts as something of a seal so that the bruise will remain longer," Loki sighed. "That is going to be very difficult to hide," he noted with morbid amusement.

Thor shrugged. "Wouldn't it be rude to hide it?"

"I think you liked it," Loki accused.

Thor turned and eyed his brother carefully, but before he could form a verbal reply, Myrkr returned, this time she was dressed. When she saw the intense looks the brothers were giving one another, she said, "This changes nothing between us."

They nodded, and she started for the door.

"Where are you going?" Loki asked curiously.

"I'm having lunch with Sif," she replied easily. Then, she gave her husband a quick kiss before leaving.

Once she was gone, Thor felt a little more comfortable saying what was one his mind. "You know how I feel about Myrkr, and you know I would never do anything-" he began to lecture but Loki cut him off.

"I know a lot of things. I know that you look at her far longer than is proper sometimes," he taunted, and when he saw his brother was getting even more upset, he added, "I also know that nothing of substance will ever happen between the two of you."

Thor breathed a sigh of relief. "She teases me," he said, though it felt more like a confession.

"Her way of showing affection, and she feels safe showing you that affection because she knows you won't do any more with her than you already have. She wouldn't genuinely come on to you because she does not feel that sort of attraction for Asgardians," he informed haughtily.

The blonde tried to allow that idea to ease him, but he still felt wounded. "Why's that?"

"Because the people of this world are too warm for her. It's a little funny, really. Fandral worried that being inside someone whose body was so cold would be uncomfortable, but really it's the heat that burns her. If not done carefully, such intimacy can actually hurt her," he explained.

"Oh..." Thor thought that over. "Is that why she was so upset when our friends were worried that you were taking advantage of her?" he wondered.

"They didn't just think I was taking advantage of her. They thought I was raping her," Loki snapped. "And no, she was so upset because they were being stupid and intrusive. We actually only just found out about it recently. She insisted on having sex to test my ability to hold my current form," he nearly scoffed.

"Is she alright?" he asked without thinking, then realized what he'd said. "I mean, obviously she's alright, but-" he tried.

Loki stopped him. "It is not something we'll be doing again any time soon, but she recovered quickly." That was as close as he was going to come to saying that it was the first time she'd ever cried while they were together like that, and that was not something he cared to see again. "What are you going to tell others when they inevitably ask about what happened to your neck?" he asked, mostly to shift focus away from himself.

"That it is a favor for a good friend," he replied surely.

"Oh? You won't tell our friends and family that you let your alien sister-in-law steal your autonomy?" Loki jibed.

"Um, no, I don't think they'll understand. If Mother and Father are really interested, I might try to explain what happened," he sighed.

Loki smiled at his brother, and it was possibly the most genuine smile he'd given him in a very long time. "You should tell our friends that you had a particularly excitable lover, that you pushed her into some kind of animalistic frenzy and she got carried away when she came for you and couldn't help herself," he teased.

Thor laughed. "That sounds an awful lot like what was happening when you first bit Myrkr."

Loki's smile turned into a feral grin. "I suppose it does."

With that, Thor took his leave. He had a few other things that needed to be done that day, and it didn't do him any good to put them off longer than he already had. Just about everyone who saw him stared at the bite mark on his neck, but only his friends had the nerve to say something about it. He thought about telling them what he'd originally planned, that it was a favor for a friend, but he knew that would only provoke more unwanted questions, so he ended up telling them the scenario that Loki suggested.

Sif was mildly disgusted, but the warriors three cheered him on through the story, encouraging him to embellish whatever details he could provide. Once that was finished, he caught up with Sif, who had left part way through his tale of debauchery, and told her the truth under the promise that she would keep it to herself. She wasn't sure what upset her more, but accepted what he had to say and let it go at that.


	15. Cultural Reconciliation

Myrkr made a point of spending some time with Sif before she had to leave for home. Usually, it wasn't that difficult to do, but this time it was quite the chore to even get her to have lunch. During their afternoon meal, things were pleasant enough, but Myrkr couldn't help feeling like her friend was being distant, like she had lost ground in their relationship.

"What's bothering you?" Myrkr finally asked.

"It's nothing," Sif dismissed.

"Please tell me. We are friends after all," she encouraged.

Sif frowned. Her eyes darted to the mark on Myrkr's shoulder then back up to her face. "It's silly," she evaded.

"It's not silly if it's upsetting," Myrkr nearly scolded.

Sif sighed. She didn't know how to tell her friend how she was feeling. "I feel...slighted," she tried. It wasn't quite the right word, but it fit.

"By whom?" the Jotun woman asked with marked concern, leaning forward.

Sif looked away. "By you."

Myrkr gasped. She almost asked why, but then she felt stupid for even wondering. "I'm very sorry. I should have taken your feelings into account before acting," she apologized.

Sif shook her head. "No, I'm just overreacting," she dismissed.

"Did he tell you what happened?" she asked carefully.

The other woman nodded. "He lied to the others, told them some stupid story about a tavern girl who went wild on him, but he told me the truth. He told me what happened and what it meant." She sighed again. "Ugh, I feel so stupid. I actually think I was less upset with his lie than with the truth, even though the truth doesn't affect me as much."

"You really care for him," Myrkr said. "It's right for you to be upset. I'm sorry I didn't consider your feelings before acting. I guess I'm still getting used to the idea that here someone is only supposed to commit themselves to one other. I promise it won't happen again."

"If this was your world, someone in my position wouldn't be upset, would they?" Sif theorized.

Myrkr shook her head. "If this was my world, someone in your position would have already made her move." When her friend didn't reply to that, she said, "Or are you waiting for him to make the move? It is my understanding that while it is most traditional for the man to initiate such a relationship, it is not taboo for a woman to do it, especially a strong woman such as yourself. You deserve to be happy and to have whatever and whoever you want."

"Was it really Loki's idea?" Sif asked carefully.

Myrkr pointed to the mark on her shoulder. "These were Loki's idea. The day it happened, Thor came to our chambers. He and I discussed the matter in great detail. I explained to him the custom and how it was done. I hadn't even really decided to go through with Loki's idea yet when out of the blue Thor says that he would let me mark his neck if it would help us while we were away. I'm still not certain that he realizes just how much that meant to me, but when I had the opportunity, I couldn't help myself," she confessed.

"So you acted on instinct?" Sif said hopefully.

"I suppose that's as good a way to say it as any," Myrkr shrugged, though she generally discouraged others from referring to any of her activities in such animalistic terms. "I did it because it meant a lot to me that someone would make that kind of offer. I also did it because Loki could tell that Thor's mark didn't hurt me, and I didn't want him to be jealous."

"It didn't hurt?" Sif exclaimed.

Myrkr laughed and explained why. "I do love Thor, but as a brother and a friend, nothing more. And it hurt the both of them quite a lot it seems," she added offhandedly. "I do feel a bit bad about that. I don't think I've ever heard either of them make such sounds."

Sif blushed as she couldn't stop herself from imagining what those kinds of sounds should be.

"Thor has a special affection for me, but that is because I am the only sister-in-law that he's got, beyond that, it's fun to make him blush sometimes," she giggled.

"You've made him blush?" her friend gasped. "Even his friends have a difficult time of that!"

"Perhaps one day, I'll show you. Either way, I've seen the way he looks at you. Take the chance," she encouraged.

Sif nodded. "Alright. I'm glad we talked about this," she admitted.

"To be honest, I'm surprised you are more offended by the meaning of the gesture than that actual gesture itself. Doesn't it seem...barbaric to you?" she baited.

Sif looked away in an attempt to hide her shame. "I did think that at first, but the more I considered it," she trailed off for a moment and was happy that her friend was willing to wait silently for her to find her words. "I can understand the appeal."

Myrkr nodded. She was about to change topics from there when a messenger entered the small dining room they were lunching in. He greeted the ladies and informed them that the King wished to speak with the Princess. She apologized and excused herself, then the messenger led her to the throne room. As she approached the throne, the guards were ordered to wait outside.

"Your Majesties," she greeted with a deep curtsy.

"Lady Myrkr," Odin greeted firmly. "A certain event has transpired that I would like you to shed some light on for us."

"Of course, Your Majesty, I withhold nothing from you," she said with a small bow.

"Why do you claim ownership of my eldest son?" he demanded.

Myrkr's eyes grew wide and she paled a bit. She could see the intense displeasure in the features of both the King and the Queen. "I-I meant no offense." She swallowed hard.

He sneered at her. "I realize that you did not enter into your marriage with Loki by choice, but have I not given you everything you've asked for?"

"Yes, you have, Your Majesty. I am as comfortable as I could possibly be. I want for nothing, and Loki has been far better to me than I deserve," she hastily replied.

"Then why make your mark on Thor as well?" Frigga demanded coolly.

Myrkr looked at her fidgeting feet as she told the King and Queen about her husband's idea. "Having the mark of protection from the heir to Asgard would help ensure our safety," she assured.

"That does not explain what you did!" Odin said, his patience quickly fading.

She stammered for a moment. She had reasons for what she'd done, but none of them seemed adequate at the moment. Just then, Thor came bursting into the throne room.

"It was my idea. I asked her to do it," he asserted. He had heard through certain channels that his sister-in-law had been summoned to speak with his parents and that they were none too happy with her.

"Why would you do such a thing?" Frigga gasped.

"Because she needs to know that there are people here who love and trust her. Though I have only known her for a year, I trust this woman with my life," he asserted. Then, he glanced at Myrkr, who was standing a few feet away with her mouth speechlessly gaping open. "In the short time that I've known her, I have learned through her what it is like to be alone, both among your own people and among strangers. She is strong and kind and deserves better than that. I have been humbled witnessing the sacrifices that she has made and continues to make for the sake of peace between our worlds. I let her claim ownership of me because that is how much I trust her. By leaving my mark on her, I swore to protect her, but I did not think that properly conveyed the depth of the feelings I have for her," he stated grandly.

When he was finished, the large hall grew silent.

Feeling that the silence was too awkward to bear, Myrkr quietly cleared her throat and said, "And the marks are temporary. As an Asgardian, his will heal quickly, and it is not something that I intend to repeat," she promised.

The King and Queen whispered between themselves for a moment before making a decision. "I will let this slide, this time. It will never happen again. Mark up Loki all you like, but Thor is not yours, and it does no one any favors to even make allusions otherwise," Odin decreed. "Such an act borders on treason."

"You have my word," Myrkr said with a bow, then Thor led them out of the throne room.

They barely made it out to the nearest balcony before Myrkr burst into tears. "I am so so sorry," she said between sobs.

He laughed warmly and pulled her in for a hug. "It's quite alright. There is no harm done. They are just looking out for me. My only regret was that you got a scolding for doing something I said was alright."

It took a moment for Myrkr to collect herself. "Did you really mean those things you said?"

He gave her an odd look. "Not only are they my parents, they are the King and Queen. I don't lie to them."

She nodded. "Yeah, okay. Walk me back to my chambers?" she asked hopefully.

When they got to her door, he turned and asked. "Would you let me do the same to you as you have done to me?" he asked curiously.

She looked away. "No, I wouldn't. I'm sorry. It's a terrible thing to say, but after all that, I won't lie to you about it."

He gave her a pat on the shoulder. "Don't be sorry." He let her go at that.

"What did my parents want?" Loki asked as she entered.

She told him about what happened as she made herself comfortable and poured herself a glass of wine. "They were very upset. I should have known better. It was a stupid thing to do."

"It's fine. They were being intentionally harsh because they understand that it is not something to be taken lightly," he eased. "And honestly, I think that since Thor was stupid enough to not only let you, but encourage you, to do it, he should be the one getting scolded."

"Your father thought I was ungrateful," she said regretfully.

"Given your situation, they should be grateful that you are as amicable as you are. I doubt that many frost giants, regardless of their size or upbringing, would be as genuinely pleasant about their situation as you have been," he told her.

"I knew that being unpleasant would only make matters worse," she muttered.

"That may have been the case at first, and no one would blame you for putting up a friendly front, but we've become too close for me to believe that you are not grateful for the accomodations that have been made for you here. You are too good of heart not to be," he said. Then, he pulled her into a tight embrace, allowed himself to change forms, and led her to their bedroom.


	16. Belonging

There was a small procession to send off Loki, Myrkr, and the four guards that they had elected to take with them. The couple could tell that those present were worried, but they all did their very best to put on happy faces and offer last minute words of encouragement.

"Why don't you wear your jewels?" Frigga asked Myrkr quietly.

"Because they were designed to impress you. My people know they're essentially worthless," she replied softly.

Once they had gone through the Bifrost, the small crowd disbursed until the only ones who remained were Heimdal and Odin.

"What do you see?" the king asked his most loyal servant.

"They have arrived safely. Laufey and a number of others are present to meet them. They are heading toward the castle," Heimdal offered a play by play of what was happening on Jotunheim.

Loki tried not to shiver as he pulled his heavy cloak more tightly around him. If there was any time he wished he could change forms, it was then. The sudden biting wind was almost more than he could handle, but he would be damned if he was going to show it.

They were led to the courtyard where Thor had had his confrontation with Laufey, and Loki felt a knot ball up in the pit of his stomach. Laufey stood before his throne of ice and spoke to the crowd that had gathered.

"Our daughter has returned," he announced. The Asgardians present were disillusioned by the Jotun King's less than celebratory tone, but the cheer that erupted from the growing crowd was a little reassuring. He turned and led them inside.

"Why is the throne outside?" one of the Asgardian guards wondered aloud.

Myrkr turned and glared at him. "Because our leaders do not hide behind great walls or surround themselves with meaningless tokens of plenty when they could sit plainly before the eyes of those they rule and command respect just as well, if not better," she lectured.

The guard was about to retort to that, if only because he had never heard her speak so disrespectfully to anyone before, but Loki stopped him.

The whole scene pleased Laufey greatly. "It seems that you not only remember your roots, but have also managed to teach this man about respect," he mused, glancing momentarily at Loki as he spoke.

Once they were in one of the castle's few private chambers, Laufey turned to Myrkr. "Show me the Casket," he ordered.

"I don't have it with me," she told him. She tried to keep her head down, but it was hard not to look at his face to gauge his reaction.

Laufey growled at her, making her guards take up defensive positions. "Then you are in for a very rough time," he threatened and walked away.

There was an uncomfortable silence for a long moment after that. Then an elderly Jotun man came up to Myrkr. "The people gather at dusk for your return feast. Is there any way you could have the Casket brought here in that time?" he proposed.

She turned to glare at the old man but her expression softened as soon as she laid eyes on him. "I could, but I won't," she asserted.

"That is your choice," he said respectfully, then motioned for them to follow him. "This way."

As they walked, another one of the guards came up next to Myrkr. "If I may say, My Lady, it was very wise of you not to bring the Casket back to Jotunheim. Even if none of us make it back home as a result of that decision, better that than the countless lives lost instead," he said confidently.

Myrkr's eyes grew wide with rage. She stopped him and moved around to face him. "You have no idea what you're talking about!" she said in a low, dangerous voice. "I should have you executed for your insolence," she threatened.

"My Lady, I meant no offense," the guard hastily retracted.

"And this is my home," she reminded. "What should I care if none of you make it back to yours?" Then she turned and looked at the old man, silently urging him to continue leading them to where they would be staying for the next several days.

As they started to walk away, the guard who had been speaking to her quickly found that he could not follow. His feet were frozen fast to the ground. He struggled a little and when no one seemed to care, he started to panic. "My Lady, I am so sorry, please release me!"

Myrkr scoffed but kept walking until Loki placed a gloved hand on her shoulder. "My Lady, he will die if you leave him like that," he reminded, eyeing her critically. He was having a difficult time judging if she was being genuine or if it was all a show to prove to whoever was watching that she hadn't gone soft toward Asgardians.

She could tell she was starting to make Loki worry, so she turned back to the guard. "You will not speak unless spoken to for the rest of our stay," she commanded.

He nodded vigorously and bowed his head. Myrkr rolled her eyes, and with a wave of her hand, freed his feet. He stumbled forward and hurried to catch up with the rest of his group. The four guards exchanged meaningful looks but said nothing.

They were led to two open, adjoining rooms. The guards were told to stay in the smaller one while Loki and Myrkr were shown into the larger. There was little in the way of amenities, but that was to be expected.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" the old man asked Myrkr.

She tried not to smile. "A word of wisdom?" she asked with veiled hopefulness.

"The old days will return. Out of the ice, frozen for a time, the old ways will revive," he said, then he bowed and left.

"Well, that was cryptic," Loki muttered.

Myrkr turned to him, a slight smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "I think the two of you would get along, if given the chance. You both think that speaking frankly is overrated," she told him.

"Who was he?" Loki asked.

"My teacher. He prepared me for you, taught me to read and write, taught me your customs, warned me of the voracious appetites of Asgardians," she teased.

Loki nodded. "What did he mean about the old days?" he asked curiously.

Myrkr shook her head. "It's nothing of importance," she lied.

He knew she was lying, but he also knew better than to press her for further information at this point. "Laufey didn't seem as upset as I expected," he tried.

Her smile turned sad. "He is waiting until I have to tell the people."

Loki nodded. "What can I do?"

"Keep doing what you have been. You are doing very well," she tried to praise. She wanted nothing more in that moment than to curl up with him in a snow bank and fall asleep with him. Already, she was tired of all the politics, and it'd only just begun.

Myrkr didn't have their guards come with them to the feast. She knew they wouldn't be able to stomach the food they were to be given and encouraged them to make themselves as comfortable as possible and break into the dried food they'd brought with them. She also gave them permission to start a fire, given that it was kept as small as possible.

The feast began with the hunters who had acquired the larger beasts that were being served to them recounting the tales of their hunt. There was much cheering and rancorous behavior, which made Loki feel equal parts irritated and comfortable, but that didn't last. Once the stories were over, the attention of the crowd quickly shifted to Myrkr.

"Show us your prize!" one of the larger men in the crowd shouted eagerly.

Loki frowned and looked at his wife.

Myrkr swallowed hard before saying in a loud, almost sure voice, "I confess, I do not have a prize to offer my people."

Gasps rolled through the crowd.

"You were sent to Asgard to retrieve the Casket of Ancient Winters," Laufey growled dangerously as though this was the first he'd heard of it.

"The Casket has been given to me, but I did not bring it with me this day," she replied as confidently as she could.

"The Allfather betrays us!" an angry voice shouted.

"No!" Myrkr shouted back. "You betray yourself. The treasure that was taken from Jotunheim was gifted to me by the Allfather in exchange for marrying his son."

"Then why haven't you brought it with you?" Laufey snapped.

"Because I don't think we are ready to have it back yet," she said with a wince.

"Not ready? Who are you to decide?" The angry man in the crowd shouted. Now that he was standing, it was clear that he was the one who had told the most epic hunting story. He seemed to command about as much respect as Laufey.

"I know it's difficult, but you just have to have faith. You have to trust that I know what I'm doing," she urged.

"You're going to trust this little runt?" he said to Laufey as he motioned angrily at Myrkr. "This weak creature that would not have survived if not for your plan to sacrifice her to those ruthless savages?"

"Savages?" Loki exclaimed in spite of himself.

Myrkr gave him a look of warning and he stopped. "I am not some little runt. I am _the_ winterling. I was born into the longest night of the coldest season. I am darkness! With all due respect, Your Grace, I did not survive because of your plans for me. I survived in spite of them. I can and have thrived in conditions that would make anyone else shiver."

"You have never even slain a great beast, let alone an enemy. You survived on the scraps of others," the angry man accused.

"You have no idea who or what I've slain because I've never required a parade to prove what I have done," she caustically retorted.

"What you've done is given up your world to live in the comforts of our enemy!" Laufey said.

"I am the quintessential child of Jotunheim, and I was alone until I was given to this man. Yes, we have bonded, but not at the cost of forgetting who I am and where I come from. Because of the deal that you brokered, the Casket of Ancient Winters is mine, and it will be returned to Jotunheim when the time is right."

"The Casket of Ancient Winters is worth more than one woman!" Laufey told her.

"You should have thought of that before you gave Asgard one woman, and regardless of what you think, I am worth the Casket. I am the peace that keeps the Allfather from taking our greatest treasure and using it to destroy our world and everyone on it."

"Kill her for her insolence!" the angry hunter shouted.

"If you so much as lay a hand on me, Jotunheim will never see its greatest treasure again!" she threatened.

The old man across the table and a few seats down from Myrkr stood, "All this anger and these threats are ruining a perfectly good feast," he tried.

"What do you know? You're so old that you barely see or hear what happens around you!" the hunter scoffed.

The elderly Jotun chuckled softly. "My hearing and sight may not be what they used to be, but I still make the most of them," he retorted. "And what I know is that I spent more time with this woman than anyone else. She is strong and smart and wise for her years. She knows things and has had experiences that even our bravest warriors cannot fathom. You would be wise to heed her words."

Laufey did not appreciate that anyone, even just one old man, was willing to stand up for her. "Perhaps you don't understand the severity of the situation," the King said, giving a small nod to the hunter, who stood and moved up behind Loki. "It is not just your life at stake here."

Loki didn't flinch, simply taking in and letting out a slow even breath, finding the cold air helped his nerves. He looked up at his wife who was standing a couple feet to his side, and pursed his lips to keep from saying anything. He did, however, cross his arms over his chest and drew himself up, reaching into the hidden pockets of his coat to find the daggers hidden there.

"It's true that man is special to me, but you should know that threatening him won't just provoke my ire," she informed.

"You cannot possibly believe that those pitiful guards you brought along could do you any good. Honestly, it's as though you want them to be killed. If our climate doesn't take them, their stupidity will," the hunter scoffed.

"I had hoped it wouldn't come to this," she sighed. Then, she moved her hair to one side, revealing the mark on her shoulder that she had carefully kept hidden up to that point.

"Is that-?" The hunter's posture changed to one of curiosity as he leaned a little closer.

"Loki, show them," she ordered her husband, who gave a weary sigh and pull the collars of his cloak, coat, and shirts aside to reveal his shoulder as well.

"Who made those marks?" Laufey demanded of the crowd.

A murmur rippled through the people but no one came forward.

"Who marked these two?" the King demanded, even louder this time.

"These marks were made by the same person, but they weren't made by a Jotun," the hunter determined warily.

Myrkr smirked.

"What is the meaning of this?" Laufey demanded. He felt like he was losing control of the situation, which was equal parts reassuring and unnerving. "Who made these marks?" he questioned harshly as he moved around behind the couple to see for himself.

"It is the work of Thor," the old man surmised, as he too had moved closer to have a look.

"The mark of an outsider means nothing!" the hunter dismissed, though he seemed less sure of himself now.

"Would you say that if I had given him the mark of ownership?" she proposed haughtily.

A soft laughter rippled through the crowed at the audacity of such a thing.

The old man was the first to form a real reply to that. "If the heir to Asgard had allowed such a thing to happen, no one here would question its validity. They would expect that he adhere to the custom," he said what everyone was thinking.

"This is a moot point. Odin's first born would never allow such a thing to happen," Laufey dismissed fitfully.

Myrkr smirked before tilting her head back and shouting to the sky. "Allfather! I know you are watching this. Please send your other son. I desire his presence, and he is required to provide it!"

There was a long silence after that, filled with incredulous looks.

After about a minute, Laufey and the hunter scoffed at her, began to mock her.

"That was a good show, but you have nothing to show for yourself and no one to protect you. You have been a waste of time and space and resources!" Laufey spat.

He had more to say but was cut off by the boom of the Bifrost dropping yet another Asgardian onto Jotunheim. Thor had been dropped a little ways off, which gave Myrkr time to say, "Granted, between everyone here, you could still probably take out the three of us, but not without losing some of the best warriors you have and starting a war you cannot finish," she told Laufey seriously.

Thor walked up a minute later led by a handful of apprehensive Jotuns. "You called, My Lady?" he prompted with a cocky grin.

"Come here," she requested. She probably should have been more forceful or demeaning in her request for the sake of the pageantry, but it wasn't necessary.

Thor nodded and moved up to her side. Those he passed gasped and pointed at him in a way that he was not used to. It made him uncomfortable, but he knew it wasn't not without reason.

"You will tell no lies to my people," she ordered.

"Yes, My Lady," he agreed.

"To whom does the Casket of Ancient Winters belong?" she asked Thor as Laufey stared with incredulous anger at the mark on the blonde's neck.

"It belongs to you, My Lady," he answered surely.

"And to whom do you belong?" she asked. That question made her stomach flutter.

"In accordance with your custom, my life belongs to you, My Lady," he replied as surely as he could.

"So, you see, the greatest treasures of both Jotunheim and Asgard are mine," she bragged. "And I will use them as I see fit."

This display of power caused the crowd to grow silent for a moment before erupting in a great cheer. Laufey gave her a look that said that their discussion was not over, but conceded for the time being.

Myrkr had Thor sit on the other side of her, and they were able to enjoy the rest of their meal in peace.

"This is actually quite good," Thor marveled as he went back for seconds, not realizing that his genuine appreciation won them further support.

When the feast was finished, the crowd dispersed. Though, a fair number of individuals went out of their way to tell Myrkr how impressed they were with her and a few even apologized for underestimating her. As they walked back to their quarters, Myrkr told Thor he could leave, but he declined.

"With all due respect, I intend to stay a while longer to ensure your safety," he told her, and when he saw that she was about to protest, he put his hand on her shoulder over the mark she'd had him make.

She swallowed hard. "Fine, but you stay with the other men. I'm sure they could use the morale boost anyway," she muttered.

Thor smiled and let the matter drop.

No one bothered them for the rest of the night. The rest was much needed even if it was unnerving.


	17. Hunting

Laufey didn't bother them the following day either.

"Do you think he's accepted the situation?" Loki asked quietly as they got ready the following morning.

"No," Myrkr firmly replied. "He is weighing his options, seeing how the people react to what happened, and waiting for one of us to make a mistake." Then, she turned to him and smiled. "Things were a bit more dramatic than I expected last night, but it all worked out." She pulled him close and whispered into his ear, "I'm sorry I had to call your brother Asgard's greatest treasure."

"You are right. The first born son is a kingdom's greatest asset," he lamented.

She glared at him and grabbed his collar, holding it tight so he couldn't go anywhere. "Maybe on Asgard," she told him. "Look around. He's out of his element, literally."

That made Loki smile just a little. "And you've always preferred me," he said, gently running his fingers over the mark on her chest. "Which is all I really need."

She threatened to kiss him, but backed away at the last moment, leaving him to lean forward as she withdrew. He looked disappointed, but then said, "I suppose it's best not to start something we can't finish," he mused.

Just then, someone entered their chamber. "Myrkr?" asked a young man in a careful but still rather cheery voice.

She smiled and turned to the door. "Yes?"

"May I speak with your...husband?" he asked, hesitating as though he had to take a moment to remember the right term.

"Of course, and you needn't ask my permission. He and I are on equal terms," she advised.

"What is it?" Loki prompted.

"I'm taking a small party out hunting. Would you like to join us?" he asked hopefully.

Loki glanced at Myrkr who didn't give any negative reaction. "I'm sure that would be very interesting. Is there anything I need to do to prepare?"

The young man smiled. "Make sure you're bundled up," he teased.

"You're going hunting?" Thor asked excitedly as he poked his head into their room.

"They're going hunting," Myrkr said.

"I would love to-" he began, but she cut him off.

"You're not going," she told him.

He was about to argue with her, but then sighed. "Perhaps another time," he said and went back to the other room.

Loki grabbed his cloak and nodded to Myrkr before following the young man out. Once they were gone, she called Thor back in.

"I had to do that, I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"I know. You need to show your authority," he conceded regretfully.

She grimaced a little. "Actually, it's because Loki needs to needs to get to know the people. Having you around will only distract them," she replied.

"Oh, okay," Thor agreed, feeling significantly better.

Myrkr left with a short while later and ended up spending a few hours with a small group of Jotuns that she seemed to know. Thor wandered about, making periodic passes by Myrkr. It gave the illusion he was keeping an eye on her, but really he was just bored. Because of this, he got to hear portions of some fairly interesting conversations.

"Your old teacher says that Asgardian men have insatiable burning lust which takes precedent over everything else when they're struck with the mood," one young woman said with anxious excitement. "But your men don't seem at all like that."

Myrkr giggled. "They have their moments, but they can actually be quite gentle. They have as many moods as you or I, though the burning part is sort of true," she added with a blush.

"Do you need any more of the ointments we sent with you?" an older woman asked, obviously concerned.

Myrkr shook her head. "No, actually, I haven't used all of what was sent originally. Save your healing for those who need it."

"But they are so warm!" the younger woman interjected. "I peeked in on the men you brought with you and they nearly melted through the ice just by sleeping on it."

"You're assuming that they've properly mated," the younger man sitting with them reminded.

"Isn't that their custom, though? You exchange trinkets in front of everyone and then get bedded?" the younger woman recalled.

Myrkr sighed. "That is the gist of their custom, but Loki wasn't very keen on being a husband when we were first married. We took time to get to know one another before anything intimate happened between us," she tried.

That was all Thor heard on his first time around. He was happy with how easily Myrkr was able to handle such intrusive questions but, at the same time, irritated that they seemed so eager to ask. His second pass was a little less interesting. By the time he made it back around, they had her talking about the different kinds of food she had been offered in Asgard.

"They are fond of these very rich, very decadent sweet things. Sometimes they are small bits piled high, sometimes they are made in one big mass. They are almost always inedible as far as I'm concerned. I don't mean to be rude. They spend an inordinate amount of time putting these things together, mixing and measuring and baking, but I'd rather they didn't. And most of the rest of the food they serve comes out steaming hot!" she lamented dramatically, earning a gasp from her listeners. "By the time it's cool enough for me to even touch, most everyone's nearly finished eating," she laughed. "Though, I do have to say that we have come to some understandings in that regard. At first, I was worried that their cooks would think I was being difficult or disrespectful, but now I think they prefer to make things for me because what I want requires much less work from them."

Thor could actually confirm that was true. When Myrkr first started making requests of their kitchen staff, they were confused and even a little offended, but when they realized that her special requests almost always involved less work than what they would normally do, they were more than eager to do what she asked.

The next time he came back around, the subject at hand was one of special interest to him.

"Is it true they don't let their women go hunting or fight in battle?" the young man asked cautiously. He knew Thor was around, but he also trusted that the blonde Asgardian wouldn't do anything offensive toward them.

"I think that used to be the case," she mused, "But if you've got an aptitude for it, they are willing to let you do pretty much whatever you like. One of my best friends there is a woman who is a great warrior."

"Have you slain any Asgardian beasts?" the young woman asked eagerly.

"I've refrained from hunting while in Asgard. I confess, the heat is a bit much for me, and I don't think they would appreciate our hunting styles," she half-joked.

"What styles are those?" Thor interjected.

Myrkr grinned but let the older woman field the question.

"We tend to go in small groups, led by an individual agreed upon when starting out. First, there is stealth, moving silently and tracklessly through the wilderness until a suitable beast is found. Then, there is the chase. The group steers the beast away from it's heard, if necessary, and toward more favorable terrain. Finally, the leader mounts the beast, forcing it into submission before making a singular killing strike," she explained proudly.

"It varies at times, depending on the situation, but the key is the one clean, life-ending strike. If it takes more than that, it is considered a failure," Myrkr clarified.

Those images had Thor's blood pumping, and he was instantly more jealous of his brother than he had been before. "Why one strike?" he asked eagerly. "Is it the honor of taking out the beast in one fell blow?"

The old woman answered, "It is a show of the hunter's skill, but that is not the intention. It is out of respect for the beast. If it howls in pain, you have done it a great disservice."

Thor was very impressed with that idea and left it at that. By the time he made it back around again, they were once again talking about relationships.

"How did you get him to mark you? I thought Asgardians prefered trinkets," the young man asked her.

Myrkr blushed a little and gave a shy smile while she thought about what she wanted to say. Telling them the truth wasn't an option at the moment, so she had to think quickly about what to tell them instead. "It's true that the rings we wear," she held out her hand to show them the gold band decorated with flawless diamonds she wore on her left hand, "are a symbol of our commitment to one another."

"You have more than one finger. You should be allowed more than one commitment," the old woman said bitterly.

"I don't think that my husband would argue with that, per say," she giggle. "Anyway, after some time to get acquainted, he became curious about our ways. He appreciated how much effort I put into understanding their culture and felt the desire to reciprocate. In truth, and some of you may already know this, he was the first to put his mark on me. Some say that his mark doesn't carry the same meaning as one from our own people would. I don't know if they're right, but it means a lot to me because I feel like he really had to step outside himself to do it."

"Does he understand the meanings behind such actions?" the old woman pressed.

Myrkr nodded. "I explained it all to him before he did it."

"What did he think of it? Did he do it out of obligation or some sense of propriety?" the young woman asked.

"He found it...very intimate. It is a much more carnal form of commitment than his kind are used to, but I think he liked the idea of giving each other something that could not be lost or stolen or bartered away," she mused.

"What mark did he give you?" the old woman asked with marked interest.

"He had a bit of trouble deciding. The first was the mark of protection. It was a very intense moment for both of us," she said with a blush. "I don't really need protection on Asgard, but it is reminiscent of the marriage vows, to love, honor, and protect," she informed.

"What others?" the old woman pressed.

"Next was the mark of preference. We gave those to one another." She sighed wistfully as she pulled her hair back over her shoulders and moved her thin top out of the way for them to see. It was one of the most emotional moments of her life.

"And?" the old woman prompted knowingly.

"He got a bit carried away one evening," she said in a quiet voice, her face darkening as she pulled her short wrap skirt out of the way, showing them the mark on her inner thigh.

"So you have properly mated," the young man jibed.

"It took some time, but we have found ways of being intimate that are accommodating to the both of us," she managed.

"My Lady," Thor interrupted, motioning for her to come over to him.

"Just a moment," she told the others as she scampered off to her brother-in-law. "What is it?"

"Is it really appropriate for you to discuss these things so openly?" he asked as respectfully as he could.

"It's a little unusual, but not inappropriate. If we lived here, they wouldn't have to ask these kinds of questions. They need to know that I haven't been the only one who's been learning and adapting. It does them good to hear that the man I was practically sold to has at least taken an interest in my culture," she told him seriously.

Thor frowned. He didn't like to think about their betrothal in such harsh terms, even if it was the truth. "I hope you understand why that makes me uncomfortable."

She nodded. "I do, but I'm actually being quite discrete. If I had any close friends here to talk to, the stories I'd be telling would be quite a bit more graphic," she teased.

He nodded and went about his way.

"Does your protector find fault with our discussion?" the old woman asked knowingly.

Myrkr smiled her best pageant smile. "Only because such topics are not discussed so openly on Asgard, but he understands that things are different here."

"Have you been intimate with him?" the young woman suddenly asked.

Myrkr burst out laughing and shook her head. "No. Intimacy with my husband's brother is a taboo on Asgard, and even if it weren't, that is not the kind of relationship we have. He is a true friend, but no lover to me."

From there, she was able to steer their conversation away from herself and the group slowly disbursed after that.

Loki had a somewhat similar experience. As he walked with the small group of Jotuns, two other males and three females, he thought how convenient it was that they didn't have to worry about weapons or mounts.

"Are you a good runner?" the young man who invited him asked after introducing the group. His name was Natta.

"I'm a fair runner among my own people, but having raced Myrkr through the snow a number of times this past winter, I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to keep up with you," he half-joked.

"You can be in the back then," he decided. "It's a good place to start where you won't be in the way and can get a feel for what's happening." Then, he went off to scout ahead of them, telling one of the women to explain what was about to happen.

Kala explained to him that once they found a suitable beast that they would form a loose ring around it and drive it toward favorable terrain. Since Natta was leading their expedition, he would mount the beast mid-stride and kill it. Their job was to keep the beast from getting too wild and throwing him off or going somewhere that it would be difficult to manage. Two of them would stay to the right, the other two to the left, and Loki was to keep the rear, in case it turned about.

"Do you have any questions?" Kala prompted.

"It all seems pretty straight forward, though I can't promise I won't get in the way," he hedged.

She smiled. "You might not be so bad after all."

"You've got hair like a woman," one of the other men, Drepa, taunted.

Loki just laughed. "I have noticed that only the women here have hair. To be honest, I didn't even know that before this trip," he said.

"That's because we made them hide from you all," Drepa scowled.

"Be nice," Sterkr, one of the other women scolded. "He's obviously not like that."

Drepa scoffed, but Loki spoke before he could. "I know that Asgardians don't have the best reputations and while parties are fighting, rumors are spread, often very vile rumors. I don't fault you for being careful," he said as eloquently as possible.

Their conversation would have continued from there, but Natta returned. He described the situation, their angle of approach, and led them in. Loki surprised them with his ability to keep up. Natta had intentionally chosen one of the slower beasts he had seen, but they didn't have to slow down very much to keep their formation.

Loki actually gasped aloud when Natta leapt up onto the gigantic creature's back. It was the length of three horses and at least five wide and three tall. At first, it looked shaggy, but as it galloped along, enough of the snow and ice that had settled onto it sloughed off, revealing a tough armored plated skin. He could hardly believe how close the others were getting to the beast's legs, which were as wide as tree trunks, as they ran along side, periodically touching it to guide it in the right direction.

Once Natta had settled onto it's shoulders, he took a deep breath as a long, thin blade of ice formed from his fist. Loki watched in awe as it only took one strike to stop the beast. He was so distracted that he almost tripped over the thing as it's limp body skid to a stop in the snow.

"Is it dead?" he asked, nudging one of the back legs with his foot.

They all nodded.

"That was amazing," he said quietly, moving up to examine the killing blow, a single stab with an impossibly sharp blade that severed the creature's spine, cut its throat, and ended it's it's brain.

"I've heard the hunts on Asgard are much messier," Drepa joked.

Loki nodded. "Compared to this, most definitely." He then took a few minutes to explain their method of hunting, which usually involved wounding an animal and tacking it down. They obviously didn't approve.

The group prepared the carcass for transport and were on their way back a short time later.

"Do you genuinely love Myrkr?" Natta asked as they walked.

Loki tried not to smile. "I do."

"Do you think it's selfish for her to be tied to one person?" Meta asked. She had remained largely silent up till then, but Loki had noticed how closely she watched him.

"It's our custom," he asserted, but then detracted, "But, truth be told, I've never been much of a monogamous person, so I wouldn't mind if Myrkr took an interest in others."

"You're just saying that. Asgardian men are jealous fools," Drepa scoffed.

"I'm not saying I wouldn't get jealous if she developed a preference for another. I quite like being the one she turns to first, but I wouldn't stop her from seeking the company of others," Loki clarified.

"So," Netta said with a smirk, "If I made advances on her, you would not try to stop me?"

"If she would have you, that's her choice," Loki shrugged. "You did just take out that-" he suddenly realized he had no idea what the creature was called, "that thing with one blow, so you might just be up for something like that," he teased.

"What about the other one?" Sterkr proposed.

"What about him?" Loki questioned. Even though he knew what she was getting at, he decided to turn it around on her. "I suppose you could make a move on him if you wanted, but be careful. His blood runs even hotter than mine."

Sterkr tried not to blush. "That's not what I meant. I was asking if your brother would try to stop someone else from being with her," she scolded.

The others laughed at her embarrassment.

"Only if he thought you were going to hurt her, though he knows she can pretty well take care of herself," Loki chuckled. "A good shooing should do the trick. If you're interested, I could put in a good word for you," he winked at her.

Netta glared at Sterkr.

"Not for me, thanks. I prefer lower profile friends," Sterkr dismissed haughtily.

"Why did you tell her to be careful?" Netta asked cautiously.

"Because the internal body temperatures of our peoples is so different, conventional coupling can be a bit...difficult," he hedged.

"I've heard that Asgaridan males can't even get it up when it's too cold," Meta taunted.

Loki chuckled. "Some of us have better fortitude than others," he replied.

"You burn her insides and make such jokes?" Drepa growled.

Loki sighed. "You make assumptions based on only a few very small pieces of information. And honestly, I got the impression that Jotuns were more creative when it came to sex," he sniped.

There was another round of laughter, though this one more closely resembled snickering. Drepa scowled, but when he saw that Loki was serious and not going to back down, he ended up smiling.

"You might be alright," Drepa conceded.

After they got back Kala went out of her way to walk Loki back to his quarters.

"I hope you'll forgive our questioning you," she began. "I've heard that on Asgard, people don't speak so directly unless there is a conflict."

"There is nothing to worry about. Myrkr told me that the people here are more open about certain things, and I've come here with an open mind," he dismissed.

"You really do love her, don't you?" she mused with a smirk.

"I already told you that I do," he tried not to snap.

"What she said last night about being alone until she was given to you, that was true. I'm glad that you actually care for her. I always felt very sad for how isolated she was. If Laufey hadn't adopted her, that wouldn't have been the case. There were people who felt very strongly about her, but they always had to keep their distance," she explained.

"Yes, if nothing else, it would have been extremely difficult to become attached to someone like her only to have her given away to a stranger in a strange land," he agreed.

"Natta always had a soft spot for her. Even after he'd been told to stay away, he talked to her and gave her things. I think that if things were different, he would have been the first to make his mark on her," she sighed.

Loki nodded. "I got the impression that his inviting me to hunt with you wasn't just out of courtesy."

"I hope you're not offended," she hedged.

"Not at all. It means a lot to me to know that there are others who care for my wife. She deserves all the love she can get," he said with a wistful smile.

Once they were at the threshold of Loki and Myrkr's quarters, Kala grabbed Loki's collar and pulled him close, leaning forward until her lips practically brushed against his ear as she spoke in a quiet voice. "Be careful. You have some friends here, but not all of them would be willing to stand up for you in all situations, and there are a number of rather powerful individuals who are not done making your lives difficult."

As she backed off, Loki smiled. "Thank you," he said with a nod and went in to see his wife.


	18. The Casket Bearer

The following day was more eventful. The old man, who Loki now knew was called Eldask, came for Myrkr shortly after they woke up.

"King Laufey would like to speak with you," he said.

"We'll be right there," she replied as easily as she could.

"I'm sorry, he just wants to speak with you," he insisted, looking directly at Myrkr.

"I keep no secrets from my husband," she countered.

Eldask frowned. "I am aware of the state of your relationship, but I was given specific instructions to bring you only."

"What for?" Loki pressed, barely hiding his anxiety.

"The King wishes to discuss the terms under which the Casket of Ancient Winters will be returned to Jotunheim. Since Myrkr claims sole custody of the Casket, she alone will speak with the King," he asserted.

"It's alright," Myrkr said gently, offering a weak smile to her husband. "I'll be back as soon as we're done." Then, she drew herself up and followed Eldask out of their quarters.

Their greetings were minimal. Since they were essentially alone, none of them felt the need for any of the formality that public greetings required.

"You will return the Casket to Jotunheim on your next visit. We have waited too long for its return, and you have no right to withhold it!" Laufey asserted.

"Or?" she prompted definitely in spite of the fluttering in her stomach.

"I fully intend on spending the time between now and your next visit making sure that every person on this world doubts you, making them wonder whose side you're really on, making them question your motivations so that if you don't return with the Casket, they'll tear you limb from limb," he threatened.

"Threats won't work on me. I've never really been a person in your eyes, and we both know that if something like that happened, Jotunheim might never see the Casket again," she countered.

"You are a selfish bitch. You hide behind your false power, your foreign guardians! If you truly are _the_ Winterling, as you so boastfully claim, then you should understand that the Casket does not belong to you, regardless of what some alien regent tells you. His words are not law here, and you know that," he lectured.

"Does it really wound you so to have it out of your reach? Shouldn't it be enough that the Casket is in the possession of a Jotun after so long of being held hostage on another world?" she proposed. "Your lack of patience is unfitting of your station."

"I did not become King by being patient," he hissed. "And you've just about run out what little patience I do have. You will return the Casket, or you won't be the only one who pays the price."

"You leave him out of this," she growled. She hadn't meant to blurt that out, but she couldn't help herself.

"So you really have come to care for the second son of Odin," Laufey laughed. "I suppose it was inevitable. After being alone for so long, any companionship must seem like love to you," he sniped.

"I'm sorry, I thought you brought me here to talk about the Casket, not my personal life," she tried.

Laufey sneered, though she was pretty sure he was smiling. "Yes, and as I said, the Casket does not belong to you. It is mine and has been since before you were even born. You have no right to it, and pretending that you do will only prolong your suffering."

That was apparently the opening that the old man was looking for. "Actually," Eldask said, stepping forward. "Since you have taken her as your daughter, she is the rightful Holder of the Casket," he said as surely as he could.

"What?" both Laufey and Myrkr gasped, though where he sounded angry, she was in disbelief.

"It has been a while since the Casket has been with us and even longer since we've had a queen, but that is the law. The King holds the throne and rules the people. He organizes them and commands them in battle. The Queen holds the Casket, keeps it safe, and decides when it will be utilized. Since we have no queen, the adopted daughter of the King is the highest ranking female we have. The title of Casket Bearer is rightfully hers," he informed.

"She is not my blood. She is a pawn, a scrap thrown to dogs in order to keep them at bay," Laufey snapped harshly.

"We are all of the same blood, and her status as the Winterling of her generation only strengthens her claim. With the sort of endurance and stamina that sort of birthright provides, she is the most suited to wield the Casket for our people," Eldrak asserted.

"You!" Laufey looked back and forth between Eldrak and Myrkr. "You have conspired against me!"

"I am just as surprised by this as you are. I had no idea there was such a position," she marveled, then glared at Laufey. "You called me selfish. You who never took an equal partner and 'lost' every daughter he ever had. You never intended to tell me about the real power that came with being your daughter," she accused.

"I am most fit to wield the Casket!" Laufey asserted angrily.

Myrkr scoffed. "Even if you were, it doesn't matter. That's not your place. There will be an announcement before I leave. You will tell the people the truth. You can shape it however you like, but they will know that I have only acted within my right!" she announced.

Laufey seethed. He was so angry that he couldn't see straight. Without thinking, he went to backhand her. If he couldn't threaten her into obeying him, then he would physically force her to. However, this effort was for naught. His strike was met with a shield of ice before making contact with her. He growled and punched the ice with the fist of his other hand, shattering it, but by that time she was no longer behind it.

"You will not lay a hand on me or anyone that I care for," she said from behind him.

Laufey turned to see that she had raised herself up on a pillar of ice three times his height. She was almost through the broken roof. If she had chosen to go any higher, others would be able to see and hear her. He screamed and stormed off.

Myrkr came down about a minute later, making sure that Laufey wasn't just going to get reinforcements.

"You have grown much in the last year," Eldask said with a newfound respect. He knew that what he'd said was dangerous and could have ended very badly for the both of them.

"I was given to Asgard at the beginning of their warm season. I suffered much through the heat of their summer months. I don't think anyone there realizes how hard it was for me just being there. I did my best to hide it, but after awhile, you get used to the oppressive heat, the suffocating clothes, and you learn to thrive. By the time their cold season came, I was a hundred times stronger," she asserted.

Eldask nodded. "Then you are truly worthy of being Jotunheim's Casket Bearer."

Myrkr looked in the direction that Laufey went. "Why didn't you say something about this sooner?"

"Because I didn't know if it would be worth the trouble. People who get in the King's way tend to disappear rather quickly. I needed to be sure that you had the strength and the heart to hold the Casket for the people," he explained.

"What does this mean for Loki?" she asked in a quite voice.

"If he were Jotun, it would make him the heir to Jotunheim," he said, giving her a knowing look.

Myrkr paled a bit and swallowed hard.

"But wouldn't that be something? Odin raising a Jotun boy and betrothing him to a Jotun woman who turned out to be the Holder of the Casket of Ancient Winters? And all under the noses of the people of Asgard?" he mused darkly.

"Yeah, that would be something," she muttered. The fact that Loki was the only remaining blood heir to the throne of Jotunheim only made their situation more tense. "But as it is, this shift won't affect him?"

"As it is," he repeated, leveling an intense gaze on her, "he should expect to spend increasing amounts of time here or be willing to part with you for extended periods so that you can perform your duties for your own people."

She nodded. "And Laufey? He's not given up yet, has he?"

"He will look for another way to usurp your power," Eldask affirmed. "Since attacking your position failed so miserably, expect him to go after your connections. He will likely seek out any means of delegitimizing your marriage. Not that your bond with the Asgarian is particularly relevant, but if he can sway the people against you, your position will be much weaker."

Myrkr scoffed. "He didn't even stay for the wedding. I think the heat was too much for him."

"The Asgardian ceremony is of little consequence. He will seek to prove that you have not sufficiently bonded by our standards. There is more to the old customs than those regarding who has rights to hold the Casket," he warned and then walked away.

When Myrkr returned, she told Loki that they were going for a walk and refused to speak another word to him until they were away from where anyone could hear them. Then, she told him everything that had happened.

"I threatened the King," she said in a quavering voice.

"He was out of line," Loki pointed out.

"You could be the King," she said breathlessly.

Loki shook his head. "Not here. I don't belong here."

She hit him. "If you don't belong here, then you don't belong anywhere!"

He winced and grew angry at her words. "This isn't about me," he deflected.

"Not right now it isn't, but it will be. Laufey will die eventually, and when that happens, I will have to spend most of my time here. I want you with me, and I don't want you to have to lie about it. Don't tell me you haven't been tempted to transform, to show your true self and be with people who are like you!" she asserted.

Loki sighed. "During the especially cold moments, I do wish for that," he confessed. "But again, that is not the issue. What sort of bonding are we talking about? You said your people didn't have a concept of marriage. Is that a recent development?" he pressed.

She shook her head. "I don't know. My teacher spend all of his time preparing me for Asgard. I know very little about my own history."

"Then we should go to the library-" he suggested, but she cut him off.

"Library?" she scoffed. "Have you seen any books? Even a scrap of paper? The only books that this world has seen are those brought to us by others. The books your father gave Eldask to teach me about Asgard, I brought back with me when we were married," she lectured.

"Then how does anybody around here know anything?" he snapped.

"We have an oral history. We count on Eldask and others who have lived long enough to collect and tell our stories," she retorted. "Arguing isn't getting us anywhere. I only wanted to tell you what happened and to be prepared for some kind of test."

Loki thought for a moment. "What kinds of things do your people value the most? That should give us some kind of clue about what to expect," the reasoned.

She considered it for a moment. "Loyalty, sacrifice, fortitude," she listed. "These are our most valued concepts.

"Then that is what we will be tested on," he stated.

Sure enough, he was right. The following day, Laufey gathered the people.

"This is a momentous occasion," he said with mock conviction. "Our world once again has an individual who may be worth of being the Holder of the Casket of Ancient Winters!" he announced.

The crowd cheered instinctively, but then a murmur rippled through them.

"You can't mean this woman!" the loud hunter from the first night scoffed.

Laufey smiled. "Oh, but I do. She contends that the Casket is in her care and that she has the strength and conviction to properly wield it." He turned to Myrkr. "Today, in accordance with custom, the people you claim to serve will decide if you are indeed worthy of such a calling," he told her.

She nodded in agreement.

"However, your situation is unique. We have never had a Casket Bearer who has not lived primarily on Jotunheim. Because of this, I propose that you and your _husband_," he practically spat out the word, "have to prove himself as well." He turned to Loki. "What say you, Asgardian?"

Loki smiled graciously. "The woman that you gave to be my wife has suffered many trials and undergone many Asgardian rituals. It would be my honor to prove myself to her and all of you in the same way."

The crowd cheered for him, even if they weren't their most enthusiastic.

"Very good," Laufey crooned. "Now, having considered the customs for proving oneself, there have been a variety of methods used over the ages to show the people that one is loyal, capable of great sacrifice, and possesses enviable fortitude. As King, it is my prerogative to choose. I do not wish for this to take too long or to be overly difficult, so I have decided that each of you will tell a story that illustrates why you exemplify those qualities."

"A story? That's all?" Loki carefully verified.

Myrkr knew better than to think it was that easy. Even if the telling of one tale was all that was expected of them, it would have to be a good one, something that left no shadow of a doubt, which would be difficult.

"Indeed, that is all," Laufey nodded arrogantly. "The people will discern the worthiness of your tales, but should you fail, I will leave you to their judgment," he told them with grim hopefulness.

Loki understood that to mean they would likely be torn limb from limb if they failed.

"Who would like to go first?" Laufey asked.

"I will, Your Highness," Myrkr said surely.

"As you wish," the King said, taking a step back and crossing his arms.

"I will share with all of you today what happened the night that I shared my body with my Asgardian husband. As some of you may already be aware, the public ceremony is only half of what is required to signify the marriage bond on my husband's world. The other half, though it may seems a bit silly to us, is the joining of bodies for the first time. I envy everyone here who has had the privilege of sharing their body exclusively with other Jotun because making love with an Asgardian is one of the most excruciating experiences I have ever endured. Their bodies are so much warmer than ours. One of their euphemisms for becoming aroused is to 'get hot'. It is not an exaggeration. I coupled with this man in accordance with their custom, to illustrate my loyalty to him and to the commitment I made for the sake of everyone gathered here. I am fortunate that he was kind and gentle, unlike those who took me without my permission," she said shooting an angry glare at the hunter who had been so vocally opposed to her, "but that only did so much to ease the burning of having him deep inside me, the searing of his seed filling my belly. I needed great fortitude to withstand the pain. There were moments when I felt I would melt, or even burst into flames from the heat of his body and the friction of his thrusts. His body over mine was suffocating. I cried more then than I have at any other time in my life. He was merciful and finished quickly, but I still couldn't sit or walk properly for quite some time after." As she said these things, she couldn't look at Loki. She knew he was cringing.

Laufey smirked arrogantly. "That is quite the story, but I'm afraid that you only covered two of our most valued concepts. You failed to tell us how that was a sacrifice for you."

"My King, I apologize. I thought that was implied, but if you want me to say it, I will. It is a sacrifice because he is the first lover I'd ever had, and he is the only lover I ever will have. While everyone else enjoys the comforts of many others, I am bound to one, one who is not even of this world, one whose physical love literally burns me. Though he tries, he cannot truly understand what it is to be Jotun. My sacrifice is that I forgo the joy and comfort of others for the sake of the commitment that you made for me," she replied with a sort of sad pride.

The crowd below made a sound of awe and approval.

Laufey cursed under his breath. He did not think she would be able to come up with a sufficient tale. However, he still had her husband. Surely, he wouldn't be able to top what she had said. "Loki of Asgard, speak," he bid harshly.

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Loki said with a bow. "Though I fear that what I have to say will not be able to compare to what has just been said, I will do my best to prove that I am worthy to be paired with this woman." He gave another smaller bow to Myrkr before turning to the people. "The story I will share takes place after we consummated our union. In spite of my urging, she wouldn't take advantage of the skills of our healers. I assured her that they were discrete and would not judge her in any way, but she refused. It seemed she was bound to bear through the subsequent pain, which left her with a very particular sort of limp. While she stayed in our chambers recovering, two of my friends came by. They were looking for me, but I was not there at the time. She told them as much, and tried to send them away, but her obvious injury disturbed them. She tried to tell them not to worry, but out of goodness, they couldn't help themselves. Now, you must understand that while we do have great affection for one another, it rarely takes the form of physical contact, especially when in the presence of others, not for their comfort, but for ours," he clarified.

"Her particular injury, her unwillingness to tell how it had happened, and our known lack of physical affection made them come to a very unpleasant conclusion. They assumed that I was...abusing her," he said, though even now it was difficult to say loudly, "that I had forced myself on her. As if their wrong assumptions weren't bad enough, they felt the need to discuss their findings with others. When she found out what they had thought and that they had spoken about it to others, she was furious, and rightfully so. Now, these two men, they were and still are my friends, but their friendship does not mean as much to me as my relationship with her. My loyalty, sworn to her, means more to me than anything else, so when she decided to take her retribution, I provided guidance but did not interfere. They are fortunate that she is merciful. After telling them just how out of line they were and showing them how utterly capable she is of defending herself, she only threatened to behead them, rather than actually carrying through with it. I stood by and watched, prepared to sacrifice two of my very good friends to satisfy her need for justice in the face of their slander."

Laufey's smirk returned. "You say these men were your friends. How is that friends could make such heinous assumptions?"

"I have seen good people do bad things and bad people do good things. You never know what someone is capable of until it comes right down to it. As angry as it makes me that my friends, individuals that I've known since childhood, could fathom me capable of such a crime, I appreciated their willingness to defend my wife's safety," he explained.

Eldask encouraged the crowd to cheer, "Well said!"

Laufey cut them off. "I suppose that fulfills our standards for loyalty and sacrifice, but I do not see how any of what you described involved a test of your fortitude."

"Admittedly, I don't understand the complex nature of relationships here, but it took great strength of mind for me to be able to stand by knowing that the heads of my friends could be rolling at my feet at any moment," he tried.

The crowd nodded in agreement.

"Odinson," Laufey beckoned Thor.

"Yes, Your Majesty," he answered, though he didn't like calling him that.

"Are the things that they have told us true? Remember your Mistress's previous edict that you are not to lie to her people," he recalled.

Thor nodded. "They have spoken no lies," he replied, knowing that some of the details had been obfuscated but that there had been no outright lies.

Eldask took the floor before Laufey could recover from that. "What say you, people? Have these two proven to you that they are indeed worthy of our trust?

It started slow at first, with quite a bit of murmuring and muttering between individuals, but before long the crowd was cheering for the couple and shouting words of devotion and encouragement. The hunter stormed off in a rage. Laufey almost did the same, but for the sake of appearances, stood his ground. With a swift hand motion, he silenced the crowd.

"Then so be it," he announced irritably. Then, he took his leave of them.

Loki and Myrkr held hands and bowed before also leaving.

"I can't believe that worked," Loki sighed once they were alone together.

She shushed him, knowing that they were not really alone. "The people are a good judge of character. That is why the test is put up to them rather than to a single individual or a small group." Then she sighed. "One more night," she said quietly.

"This is only our third day," Loki corrected.

"Yes, and the days here take twice as long as the ones on Asgard. It has been five days on your homeworld," she informed.

He breathed a sigh of relief until he realized something. "But that means you've really only been away from home for half a year," he said. "Even so, after all that we've been through, wouldn't you rather stay longer?" he tried.

She smiled at him. "We'll see," she conceded. Truth be told, she got the feeling that their ordeal wasn't over just yet.


	19. Hounded

Myrkr and Loki fell asleep that night lying on a pile of furs holding hands. Loki kept his gloves on for this both because of the extreme cold and because he didn't want to risk changing forms in his sleep. Their sleep was peaceful right up until a great pile of snow and ice dropped on them. As if that wasn't bad enough, a second later, they were being moved. It was difficult to tell without the benefit of visual landmarks, but it seemed as though they were moving very quickly.

It took a few moments for the couple to gather their bearings. Myrkr's first instinct was to burst out of their snowy enclosure, but then she heard Loki groan and realized that her first task needed to be making sure there was enough air for him. It only took a few seconds for her to push the icy snow away from him and create a hollow large enough to prevent suffocation.

"What's happening? Did our room collapse?" he gasped.

Myrkr frowned grimmly, but it went unseen in the pitch darkness of their entrapment. "Not exactly."

Now that he could breathe properly again, Loki was starting to get his bearings. "We're moving," he said. "Why are we moving?"

"Someone is moving us. I can't say for certain who, but I've got a few ideas," she nearly growled.

"Laufey?" Loki asked.

"I doubt it. He probably instigated this, but he wouldn't actually be part of it," she reasoned.

"What should we do?" he pressed. He had some ideas of his own, but this was her home and he trusted her guidance.

"We wait for now. You prepare some of your fancy fire magic, just be careful where you point it," she warned.

"Is there anyway we could summon some of your allies?" he asked hopefully.

"That depends on how far we're taken," she answered. Then, she encouraged him to prepare his spells and gather his strength while she did the same.

They stopped a short time later. There was a long moment of silence, then they heard muffled shouting.

"Casket Bearer!" a mocking voice called. "I know you're not dead in there!"

Myrkr took a deep breath, pulled Loki's hood up over his head, and let out a high-pitched shriek. When she did, the snow that had been compacted around them exploded outward, peppering those surrounding them with icy shrapnel. She was lucky enough to get one of them through the skull with a particularly thick icicle, killing him instantly, but the others suffered only minor injuries.

"What is the meaning of this?" she demanded, searching the faces of the five remaining Jotun who stood around them in a circle.

The loud hunter who had attempted to undermine Myrkr since her return to Jotunheim laughed loudly. "Laufey has named me heir to Jotunheim granted I take care of a couple of pests for him," he told them. "So the meaning of this is that I plan to kill you and drive your bodies so far into the ice that no one will ever see you again."

"Diela," she shouted back at him. "You have taken up the wrong charge. I understand your desire to defend our home, but your approach is wrong. Give up this charge, and I will allow you and your warriors to live."

They all laughed at her.

"You may have fooled some into thinking that you are strong, but I know the truth. You are the same whimpering little ingrate that I disciplined so many times in the past. You've far overstepped your bounds this time, and now you will pay dearly," he retorted.

Myrkr snarled and stepped back from him just a little. Loki had never seen her so instinctively recoil from anything before.

"Is that him? Is he the one that scared you?" Loki asked quietly as he pulled back his hood.

The look she gave him was anger tinged with shame as she curtly nodded.

"May I kill him then?" he asked hopefully.

Diela guffawed. "Asgardian, the only reason you're still standing is because I have told my warriors not to kill you yet." Then, he made a motion and they moved in on the couple. After a scuffle that left no one uninjured, Loki and Myrkr were eventually pinned to the ground. "Now, which of you should I kill first?" he muttered gleefully.

"Me," Loki volunteered.

Diela grinned. "That's just what I was thinking. Honestly, I don't really have a grudge against you. I think of you as more of a victim of circumstance. If you hadn't been sleeping together, I wouldn't have even brought you along for this. Now, I intend to use you to help punish Myrkr, which is unfortunate for you, but as long as your brother remains intact, Odin won't act against us," he bragged.

While Diela was gloating, Loki was muttering the incantation for his fire magic. When he was finished, Loki smirked. "It is unfortunate for you that you brought me along for this," he taunted. Then, before anyone else could say anything, Loki blasted the men holding him with a massive burst of green fire. One died instantly. The other suffered minor injuries.

Outraged, Diela ordered the two hunters holding Myrkr to restrain Loki while he moved over to her and wrestled her into a chokehold.

"Killing and injuring us only makes it easier for us to justify what we are doing," one of the other warriors growled as they held Loki's arms and legs.

"Watch," Diela urged Myrkr as a great ice blade formed on the arm of one of his men. "Watch your mate die. Watch his Asgardian blood congeal on the ice as the life drains from him."

Because he was behind Myrkr, he did not see her eyes turn glassy and go completely black. However, his companions did and it made them hesitate.

"What are you waiting for? End him now!" he commanded.

They were about to heed his command, when she whispered, "Hundr."

"What did you say?" Diela hissed.

"Hundr," the hunter restraining Loki's upper half said. "She said hundr."

Diela scoffed. "You cannot summon the hundr. They are at the command of the King only."

"They are coming," she said quietly, her voice steady and unwavering.

"Kill him!" Diela shouted. Her strange demeanor and the fact that she wasn't fighting him was becoming unnerving.

The blade was at Loki's throat, and he was muttering another incantation when they felt the rumbling. A few seconds later, they heard it. While the three Jotuns holding him were distracted, Loki managed to displace himself, leaving a corporal illusion in his place while he hid out of sight.

"How-?" Diela barely said as two huge ice hounds came into view, their teeth bared in vicious snarls.

From his new vantage point Loki could see the quickly approaching creatures and recognized them as the ones that had shaken themselves free of the ice and pursued Thor, their friends, and himself during Thor's confrontation there. He shook his head at the name that had been given to them. If they were indeed hounds, they were the biggest, ugliest, meanest dogs he'd ever seen.

"They also obey the one who has most recently communed with the Casket," she said in a monotone voice. It took quite a bit of her strength to summon them, especially at such a distance.

Diela's arm tightened around Myrkr's neck. "Kill him now!" he demanded as the hounds grew closer.

Out of panic, the warrior with the ice blade complied, finding that as soon as he pushed the blade through the Asgardian's heart, the disappeared in a shimmer of gold light, leaving them holding nothing. As they stared at the empty ground in shock, the giant dogs came and tore them apart, scattering their limbs with each shake of their massive heads. Then, they turned and growled at Diela, who was holding Myrkr even tighter than ever. He had finally completely cut off her windpipe and she was starting to black out.

"Make them stand down!" he ordered. "Tell them to stop!"

She couldn't answer. Even if she could, she wouldn't have. She had saved the one she care for the most, and that was her goal. If he strangled her now, it didn't matter to her. She had just about lost consciousness when she felt a thick, cool fluid begin to drip down her back as the grip on her loosened. It took her a moment to realize that Diela had let go of her. Loki caught her just before she fell to the ground.

"Myrkr," he called anxiously. The lifeless look in her eyes was not reassuring. "Myrkr," he said, shaking her a little.

"Nnngh," she groaned, swallowing hard in the hope of opening her throat. It only helped so much.

Loki watched her eyes slide shut as she winced, and when she opened them again, they were their normal shade of red. "By the nine, I thought I'd lost you!" he said, holding her tightly against him.

She tried to hug him back. "I worried the same for you," she said. Then, she remembered their circumstances. "Diela?" she gasped.

Loki turned them so that she could see the hunter's throat cut wide open and leaking dark blue, almost black, onto the ice and snow where is body fell.

"How did you-?" she managed.

He gave her a sheepish look and showed her that she was not the only one who could summon weapons of ice. He had to transform into his Jotun form to do it, but since they were the only ones left to see it, he didn't care.

With a determined look, Myrkr stood. It took more effort than usual, but she would not be deterred. She turned and thanked the hundr and asked them to wait while she severed Diela's head. She tucked it under her arm and had the hounds carry them back to the castle.

By then it was morning, and people had started to wonder where they were. Laufey feigned concern, but secretly celebrated until he heard that the guardians of the gates had run off. He tried to call them back, but to no avail. He had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach and sent a party out to see where they had gone.

This party met up with Loki and Myrkr, each mounted on one of the guardian hounds, about halfway back to the castle and escorted them back. Once they reached the gates, because Myrkr insisted that they go around that way, they dismounted. She once again thanked the hundr for their service to her and had them resume their posts. From there, she led their little procession up toward the throne where Laufey sat waiting for them, half afraid and half angry at the sight of her spattered with blood and carrying the head of his most vocal supporter under her arm. When she reached the throne, she threw the head at his feet.

"What has happened?" he demanded. He sounded concerned, but she knew it wasn't concern for her or her husband.

She turned to the crowd that had gathered at the foot of the steps. "It seems that our tales from the day before did not sufficiently convince some of my worthiness to assist you in leading our people," she said bitterly. "I regret that six lives were lost today. Six strong and proud warriors were lost because they would not see reason. They refused to find a solution that did not include the torture and death of myself and my husband. I did not want to take their lives, but they left me no choice. I am fortunate that my time with the Casket of Ancient Winters has given me the ability to summon the hundr that guard our gates, or we surely would have perished out in the waste," she announced.

Laufey paled. "We are most fortunate that you have both made it through this ordeal safely," he told her, then turned to the crowd. "Let this be a lesson to anyone who would question the worthiness of Jotunheim's Casket Bearer!" he told them forcefully.

She turned her back to the crowd and spoke softly to Laufey, "Yes, let that be a lesson." Then, she motioned to Loki, "Husband," she beckoned and he followed, offering a disingenuous shrug of consolation as he passed the Jotun King.

As they approached their quarters, Thor finally caught up with them. "Where were you? What happened? Is that blood?" he questioned.

"Far away, we will discuss it after we return to Asgard, and yes," she curtly replied. Then she disappeared to give herself a snow bath and change her clothes. They stayed for the feast that evening, and they left the following day with no further interference. There was even a sizable portion of the people who saw them off that begged her to stay. She assured them of her return and asked that they stay strong in her absence.

Laufey cursed and smashed various things in his castle before being approached by Eldask.

"Old man! This is your fault! She would not have done any of those things if not for your encouragement!" he accused angrily.

"I know you're probably going to kill me, but it won't make any difference. Everything that happened was a result of your choices, and I was only doing as I promised. I am serving your kingdom to the fullest extent of my abilities," the elderly Jotun calmly explained.

"How did she become so strong?" the King demanded.

"You sent her to live in a hostile environment. She would have either returned to us as weak, frail, shell of a woman, or she would learn to thrive there and be that much stronger when returned to her natural element. Because of her size and patient, passive demeanor, you assumed the former. You failed to realize just what she was and what she was capable of," he lectured.

"I have to stop her. She cannot be the Casket Bearer! That power is mine!" he raged.

Eldask remained silent.

"You knew she could control the hundr, didn't you?" he accused.

"I was not aware of that, and I don't think she was either. I overheard her discussing the experience with her husband. It sounded like she was instinctively reaching out for help. In her desperation, she unleashed a power hidden within her that had been unlocked through her time with the Casket. I think it's safe to say that the more time she spends with it, the greater such power will become. Your Majesty, I'm not sure that you would be able to stop her at this point," he advised. "She skew six of your strongest warriors without suffering a single injury to herself. She wore their blood and threw the head of their leader at your feet."

Laufey growled and impaled the old man on a spike of ice, leaving him there to die while he went somewhere else to continue sulking.


	20. Return to Asgard

There was a rather large group waiting for them when they returned to Asgard. There was quite a bit of cheering and while a fair portion was directed at Thor, a lot of people seemed genuinely happy to have Loki and Myrkr back in their midst. As soon as they were back inside the castle, Myrkr turned to Loki.

"I want to see the Casket," she said quietly.

He nodded and was about to lead her to the vault when they were stopped by a pair of the King's Guard who told them that their immediate presence was requested by the King. Loki tried to persuade them to let him and his wife take a small detour on the way, but the guards were insistent.

"Welcome back," Odin said as they approached his throne.

The couple bowed and curtsied respectively.

"It seems your journey was quite eventful," he mused darkly.

"Yes, quite more than was comfortable," Loki charmingly replied.

"Your Majesty, am I right in assuming that your all-seeing gatekeeper kept at least part of his gaze on us at all times?" Myrkr asked.

Odin nodded. "I was kept apprised of all your goings on."

She nodded. "That saves us some words then, but I would like to apologize for the manner in which I called for your eldest son. I needed to prove myself. It was not my intention to belittle or shame you, your family, or Asgard in anyway," she explained, keeping her gaze respectfully downcast. "As we discussed before our departure, I am fully aware that I own nothing in Asgard, and such presumptions are ill-suited for my station."

Odin smirked. "It seems your station has elevated some since we last spoke. It was not your intention for that to happen," he mused.

"Father, she did what she had to ensure our safety and the safety of the men you sent with us," Loki interjected.

"I am fully aware of her motivations," Odin replied. "Regardless, you've left me in a rather interesting position."

"For that I am sorry," she told him quietly.

"Tell me, is it your intention to overthrow Laufey?" Odin asked bluntly.

Myrkr shook her head. "I have no love for Laufey, but he is the undisputed King of Jotunheim. It is my duty to do what I can to support him."

"And what of all that talk you made about what is best for the people of Jotunheim?" he pressed anxiously.

"If the King no longer serves the people, then he is no King," she answered surely. "No matter how he seems to you, he did not become King through purely selfish means. He had to prove himself to the people. It is time spent in a position of uncontested power that has made him selfish and greedy."

Odin looked around the throne room. His guards were dutifully standing at their stations. They did not appear to be listening to their conversation, but he would be a fool to think they weren't. "If Laufey had an heir, a son to carry on for him, how do you think the people would react?"

Myrkr shot a nervous glance at Loki. "It is his selfish greed that led him to rid himself of such ties. Having a successor means that the people have someone else that is easy to turn to should the King start to show signs of weakness."

"But if they found even just one remaining blood tie? Would that make a difference?" Odin pressed.

"That blood tie would live in near-constant danger as long as Laufey lived. Even if he was dethroned, there would be a bitter grudge. If someone came forward with a legitimate claim to the throne after Laufey's death, they would be met with skepticism, thoroughly vetted, and only then would they have a chance of being accepted. They would also have to contend with the strongest, smartest, and most charismatic hunters and warriors. In order for there to be a clean transition, there would have to be a decided winner," she informed.

"Would the endorsement of the Casket Bearer make an impact on such a contest?" Odin asked knowingly.

Myrkr nodded. "It would, but only if she had built a substantial rapport with the people."

"Well, that gives us all something to think about. Anyway, enough with these formalities. There will be a feast held in honor of your return this evening. Use this time to prepare," he commanded. Then he asked to speak with Loki alone.

Myrkr regretfully left the throne room alone and made her way to the vault. She had to see the casket. She had spent so much time over the last several days thinking and talking about it that it almost didn't seem real. She felt the need to touch and hold the artifact.

Odin called Loki back to a private room to speak with him. "You handled yourself very well over the last few days," he commended.

"Thank you, Father," Loki replied.

"I'm sure it wasn't easy. She rarely shows such autonomy here, and she never speaks with that kind of authority," he noted.

Loki nodded. "It was not easy to step back and let her lead."

"Have we been taken for fools? Is she really much more than she seems? Because looking at her now, I hardly recognize her as the meek little thing that was brought to us a year ago," Odin lamented.

"If Heimdal was really telling you everything that happened, then you should know that she never expected any of this either. No one did. Laufey chose who he perceived to be the weakest among them because he thought she would be easy to control. He didn't expect her to grow strong. He didn't expect her to defy him. I don't think we've been taken for fools, if only because she shares so many of our values and takes her commitments very seriously," Loki answered.

"I will not punish anyone for what we say here, but I need to know. How true were the stories you two shared with the Jotuns?" Odin asked seriously.

Loki pursed his lips. "Some of the details were obfuscated, but they are largely true. After I could hold this form while in contact with her, she insisted that we couple," he began.

"Did she say why?" the Allfather pressed.

"No. It just seemed important to her. I know you're suspicious, but I highly doubt it was so that she could tell her people how badly it hurt," he reasoned. "To me, it seemed more about bonding and trust."

Odin nodded. He trusted Loki's judgement in this because he knew and understood his son better that just about anyone. He knew he was a skilled liar and that he would be able to spot a lie that was being given to him. "And her confrontation with your friends?"

Loki grimaced. "That happened after our first coupling. We were both Jotun at the time, but the experience was still straining for her. She would not have killed them, but she was angry and I felt a good scare would do them good."

The King pondered that for a moment, then let it go for the time being. "I am very happy to have you back," he said, pulling his adopted son into a warm embrace. "I know you've probably had enough of telling stories for quite some time, but our people will want to know a thing or two about what happened. Spend some time considering what you want to say," he advised.

Loki left there and went to the vault. He half-expected to have the guards tell him that Myrkr had come and gone already, but she was still inside. As usual, he ordered them all to wait outside and to let no one enter. He heard her sobs before he saw her curled up around the Casket a few feet from its pedestal.

Instinctively, he rushed over to her, wrapping her in his arms and pulling her from the artifact to hold her against his body.

"I am so sorry. This was not how it was suppose to be," she raved. "It's all gotten out of control. I've spent so long trying to be good, to earn the trust of your father, only to go and throw it away, but I couldn't-" She took a jagged breath. "I couldn't just give it to him, and I couldn't just let you die there."

He shushed her with a kiss, and when he broke the kiss, he affectionately petted her hair. "I know. You did well. You are strong and brave and loyal, and more than I deserve," he told her surely. "Now, come with me," he said. As an afterthought, when they stood, he hoisted the Casket back up into place. Then they left.

The feast was another decadent affair, but this time people actually went out of their way to talk to Myrkr as well as Loki. They were genuinely friendly toward her, rather than formally so. She wasn't sure how she felt about that. As the food was being served, the guests demanded a telling of their time in Jotunheim. Apparently it was already public knowledge that things didn't exactly go smoothly for them.

As usual, Myrkr deferred to Loki when it came time for public speaking, and while he gave a brief description of their arrival, she noticed that the mark on Thor's neck was gone. Apparently, he'd gotten in healed after their return, something she was actually quite happy for. For the sake of his brother's pride, Loki left out the part about Myrkr owning Thor and just left him in the role of protector, which went over quite well.

Next, Thor urged Loki to tell them about the hunt he'd been invited to join. This was a story that he was more than willing and able to lay out in incredible detail, only omitting the two brief conversations about relationships and sex because his audience had no want or need for that information in the kind of story he was telling. It would distract from the narrative about the hunt, which is what Thor and the others really wanted to hear about. As he spoke, he could tell that everyone was sufficiently impressed by the tactics and ethics involved, and when one person playfully accused Loki of exaggerating the fact that one person had taken down such a large beast with a single strike, Thor interjected that he had also been told that that was how it was done and that anything else would be perceived as a failure.

Thor then took over for a little while to talk about the food and the people he'd met while on Jotunheim. It did much for Myrkr's support to have the blonde prince speak so highly of her culture. She even had requests from some of the more culinarily inclined individuals to bring back some food the next time she went home. She told them that she would try, but that it would have to be eaten almost right away or risk spoiling it in the heat of Asgard, even in the winter.

Finally, after all that good will had been accumulated, Odin requested that Myrkr tell them about the fight she and Loki had gotten into, a nice way of saying the assassination attempt.

"I'm not opposed to sharing that story, but I think it would be better if my husband told it," she tried. "His perspective makes more sense to everyone here."

"My son has done more than his fair share of talking this evening. Please, indulge us," the King urged. Then several others gave a, "Here, here," while bagging their cups on the table.

Myrkr sighed quietly and stood. "As some of you already know, and as my husband briefly touched on earlier, I have been named the Casket Bearer for Jotunheim. It is the most elevated status that a female can earn on my world, putting me nearly on par with King Laufey. This is not something that I wanted or even fathomed, but it was made possible in a large part by my time here. The gift of the Casket from the Allfather, the time spent enduring the heat, and the bonds I've formed have all contributed to the strength that I've gathered and ended up using to become the Holder of the Casket of Ancient Winters for my people, a great honor that I'm still trying to come to terms with.

"Naturally, there were some that didn't think I was worthy of such a position. Now, I want everyone here to understand that the actions taken by these people were not purely out of hate or envy or selfishness. The party of warriors that did this, they believed they were acting in the best interest of the people," she half-lied. Then, she proceeded to tell them about how they had been encased in snow while sleeping and spirited off to the middle of nowhere, where they were to be killed. She told them about the fight that ensued from there, and her husband's galant sacrifice in asking to be taken first so that she could have more time to escape. She told them about how she had summoned the guardians of the gate, a feat that she was even surprised by, and how Loki had saved her in the end. She said nothing of decapitating the corpse and throwing it at Laufey's feet, only that they rode back to the city on the giant hounds and left the following morning. "Please, understand that the actions taken against us were of a desperate few and not at all representative of how most of my people feel about myself, my husband, or anyone from Asgard. Our visit there did much to mend the ties between our worlds, and such encounters, while very unpleasant, are part of that process."

She received a very heartfelt round of applause for her tale, and she sat down next to Loki, feeling very weary. She did perk up a bit when dessert was served and along with the cakes and other sweet treats was a large pile of frozen fruits. She was surprised and delighted that she was not the only one who enjoyed that treat, many saying that it might be their new favorite for during the heat of summer.

Then, came the dancing. Since Loki could now control his form the vast majority of the time, they danced and flirted for hours after they were done eating, drawing quite a bit of attention to themselves in the process. Most understood this to mean that the intense experiences of the last few days had made the couple grow close, and there was a sense of relief in this. The royal couple had finally bonded and their affection seemed genuine.

This, of course, was a double edged sword. Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief because while it had been understandable for the Asgardian prince and the Jotun maiden to be at odd at first, it had become quite a strain to figure out how to interact with them. Even those closest to them, save the royal family, felt awkward when in their presence. It was much more comfortable to be in the company of a loving couple, rather than one that was distant and aloof.

The other side to this was that now that they were on good terms, gossip about their relationship took another turn. The shift from wondering whether they were even friends in private quickly became hypothesizing whether they would try to make a child together, or even if they could. It seemed half the people wondered what it would be like to be with someone whose body was so cold while the other half wondered what a hybrid of their two species would look like.

What made matters worse was when a very drunken Fandral let slip that Loki could use his sorcery to change himself into Jotun form. People began to wonder if perhaps their children would be purely frost giant, and what sort of consequences that would beget.

They were in the middle of dancing to one of Loki's favorite songs, holding Myrkr close and whispering sweet nothings into her ear when Thor interrupted them. The gave an apologetic smile at the mild glares he received for doing so, but he felt they should know what was being said.

Leaning in close, so as to keep his voice down as much as possible, he said, "Brother, you might want to have a word with Fandral. It seems a bit loose of tongue tonight and is only adding to the rumors that have started now that the two of you have shown genuine affection for one another," he warned.

"I have ears. I know full well what sorts of things people are saying now that we've shown ourselves to be quite close," Loki snapped.

"It is more than that," Thor insisted. "He's talking about your shapeshifting abilities. It was my understanding that you wanted to keep things like that private."

Loki sighed. "My dear," he said turning to his wife, "I am very sorry. I must attend to this before it gets completely out of hand."

She nodded and accepted Thor's offer to dance with her instead, though she paid most of her attention to what was happening on the other side of the room.

"Please don't be angry with Fandral," Thor said when he saw her glaring at him.

Myrkr looked up at her brother-in-law. "He should know better than to say such things, to even talk about us at all," she replied. "Perhaps I should-" she began but he cut her off.

"No, please, if even a shred of the story that Loki shared on Jotunheim is true, don't...just don't," he nearly pleaded.

She laughed, then ran her cold fingers up the muscles of his bare arm, watching with delight as a trail of goosebumps rose up on his skin. "I would not have killed them," she assured.

"You should make sure they know that, because when I heard about it before, it was Loki that pulled you away at the last second," he snapped.

"They have no business talking about me like I'm some kind of curiosity. If he really wants to know about me, he should talk to me, not go speculating and spreading rumors," she retorted.

"He might if you weren't so cold toward him," he replied, then winced a little at his words. "You know what I mean."

"I've been lukewarm toward him from the very beginning," she asserted. "Are you saying that I should extend the olive branch?"

"It wouldn't hurt. In all honesty, I believe that he only behaves the way he does because he doesn't understand you and has not been given the opportunity to. Both you and Loki shut him down whenever he tries to start a conversation about anything Jotun. Yes, he is ignorant, and as such, his entries into such exchanges are going to be ill-informed, perhaps even impolite, but not intentionally so, at least not until he's pushed away," he advised. "He would be a good ally to have and not just through me."

Myrkr considered his words and nodded. "For you, I will try," she finally decided, but not before making intensely threatening eye contact with Fandral as he was being spoken to by Loki.

Loki's conversation was much less amicable. He pulled Fandral off to one of the secluded corners of the banquet hall and spoke in a soft, low voice. "You should really just stop talking altogether. It's what gets you into trouble every time," he advised.

Fandral swallowed hard and looked at Loki, who was smiling at him, but it wasn't a reassuring sort of smile. It was more of a, 'I'd tear your manhood off right here if I could get away with it,' sort of smile. "I'm very sorry. I didn't mean to be offensive. People were talking, and it just sort of came out. Since you're not hiding your affections anymore, I didn't think it would be such a big deal. Everyone knows you can shapeshift," he reasoned.

"I wouldn't go walking around alone for a while, if I were you. While I would prefer that my wife not behead you, I can't be with her at all times," he warned, his smile never wavering as he occasionally gave a casual wave to one of the minor lords who drunkenly stumbled by. "Well, she probably wouldn't behead you. That was just sort of a warning. You know, to show you that she's not some helpless dame. Since she's upholding her Asgardian honor, she'd have to settle for having you lashed, but she'd probably insist on doing it herself and she's got a pretty good arm."

Fandral paled. "Please tell her I'm sorry. I really meant no harm."

Loki chuckled. "It's a bit amusing really. On her world, things like this are not an issue at all. Jotuns talk about and have sex as freely as they please, sometimes even in sight of others," he began.

"Then, not to be rude, but why does she care?" Fandral asked.

"Because she was raised to respect our customs as well as her own. She knows that the sort of gossip you've been spreading is considered insulting, that feeding the intrigue surrounding us is disrespectful. While in Asgard, she takes our honor system very seriously," he explained.

Fandral nodded, "I understand. Again, I am very sorry. I promise I will try harder in the future," he vowed.

"I know you will," Loki said with a pat on the shoulder, then was gone from his side. He returned to his wife a moment later and they finished the night dancing and not caring what others thought of them. All things considered, it was their most comfortable public appearance ever.


	21. Control

By the time Loki and Myrkr made it back to their chambers, they were both drunk and exhausted, though one of them still had plans for that evening. As soon as the door was shut and locked behind them, Loki pulled his wife into a tight embrace and kissed. It was the first truly passionate embrace they'd shared since before they'd left his home.

"Mmmngh," Myrkr moaned softly against his lips, her arms lazily wrapping around his shoulders while his hands started to knead her hips. "Oh, this is lovely, but-" she began but he cut her off.

"You're exhausted," he finished for her, his tone chiding as he started toward the bedroom.

She nodded, feeling guilty.

"This heat really does take a lot out of you," he mused. "All that excitement, and on top of that coming back to an inhospital climate. It's understandable that you're a bit worn out."

"I'm sorry. Tomorrow, I promise-" she tried but he pushed her down onto the bed. She blinked up at him in stunned surprise as he crawled up onto the bed, pulling her up toward the top as he went.

"You've been very authoritative the last several days," he noted, taking her hands in his as he moved to straddle her hips.

She felt dizzy and blushed a little. "I suppose I have. I hope you're not-"

Again he cut her off. "I actually found it quite attractive," he said as he leaned over. He kissed the side of her neck, down to her collarbone, across her chest, and back up the other side of her neck. He felt her shudder and lazily squirm beneath him.

"Th-That's good," she managed. Her hands twisted in his for a moment, but when she realized he wasn't going to let go, she just held his tighter.

"But after everything that's happened, I've been left wanting. I hope you don't think me selfish, but I fully intend to bed you tonight, regardless of how tired you are," he said in a low voice that tickled her ear before nibbling on her earlobe.

"If you don't care how tired I am-" she began but stopped short, making instead a sound of sudden pleasure when his knee slid up between her legs.

"Actually, your lethargy only makes it easier for me to take charge of our little situation here. As you might imagine, being passive and agreeable for so long has fed into a desire to be a bit more dominant than usual," he told her earnestly, and saying his desires aloud made butterflies rise up in his stomach.

This was the most vulnerable that she'd felt with him in a very long time, possibly ever. She was weak, tired, and intoxicated. She had no idea what he might want to do with her, but he had never given her any reason not to trust him, especially in the bedroom. So she bit her lip and nodded. "Alright, I consent," she said plainly.

Loki's lips spread into a victoriously lecherous grin. "You are absolutely lovely and far more indulgent that I deserve," he said as he started undressing her.

He carefully unlaced her dress and slid it down her body, once she lay naked before him, he pushed her arms up over her head. It took her a moment to realize that after he'd wrapped her hands around one of the shorter posts that made up the head of their bed frame, he used his magic to hold them there. Her eyes grew wide and she trembled a bit when she tested her magical bonds and found she couldn't move her hands.

"Shhh," he said softly as his fingertips gently trailed down her arms.

Another shudder ran through her body, but this time it was because of the way he was gently caressing her breasts, running his fingers over her soft skin and testing their firmness. It seemed to take him forever before he reached her nipples.

"Can you believe some of your comrades actually flirted with me while we were on your world?" he distractedly mused.

Myrkr was already in her own little world and barely heard what he'd said. "You're surprised?"

Then, he leaned over her again, teasing her puffy areolas with his lips.

Her breath caught in her throat. She didn't quite understand how this was him being dominant, but she wasn't going to question it. "Some of them were actually very tempting. There was one man in particular who seemed up to the challenge," he chuckled, then flicked his tongue out, slowly pushing it into the slit where her nipple was hiding. "If you hadn't made such a big deal about our marital commitments, I might have taken him up on that," he teasingly accused.

She made a little sound of pleasure mixed with disapproval.

"Oh, I'm not angry or anything. I fully anticipate that once your people have gotten more comfortable with us, they will be more than willing to help me explore that aspect of your culture," he taunted.

That actually made her a little angry, and she tried to kick him.

"Aht-ah!" he scolded as he grabbed her ankle before she could actually make contact. "You don't want your feet bound too, do you?" he threatened.

She frowned. "This isn't fun anymore," she complained.

"Oh? I'm rather enjoying myself," he said switching to her other breast.

Myrkr's skin flushed with angry arousal. "What you're saying... You're making me-" she tried, but couldn't quite get the words out.

"I speak only the truth to you, my Lady, and you are my Lady, my one and only lover. Do not take offense when I am honest with you because you're the only person with whom I am completely honest," he told her seriously.

Her brow furrowed, and she nodded.

"Either way," he shrugged, "I very much missed the feeling of your skin, the taste of your lips, and the sound of your pleasure." That seemed to relax her a little, so he leaned over again and started to suckle and tease her nipples alternatingly until they popped out and stayed out. He was in no hurry and could feel that she'd soaked through the knee of his pant leg by the time he'd accomplished his task.

He looked up and she seemed absolutely dizzy with pleasure. "You are so lovely," he said. He gently ran his hand down her side and was surprised when she flinched. "What's the matter?"

Myrkr bit her lip and turned away. "It's nothing. Carry on what you're doing," she tried to encourage.

He gave a disapproving frown and turned her face to look her in the eyes, where she was least able to hide her anxiety. "What's the matter?" he asked again, this time in a tone that he hoped would elicit a real answer.

"It's my understanding..." she began, but had to swallow to push down the lump in her throat, "that when one partner is dominant, that the submissive partner tends to suffer at least a bit. You're being so gentle... It feels like you're preparing me for a bait and switch," she said, hoping that he wouldn't be angry.

He chuckled and pushed her hair out of her face. "So you're expecting what? Some pinching and spanking perhaps?" he proposed, rubbing his hands together. He couldn't help having the image of her bent over his knee from entering his mind.

"At the least," she meekly replied.

"And you'd let me do those kinds of things to you?" he pressed hopefully.

She winced a little but nodded just the same. "I would, and for you, I'd even try to enjoy it if I could," she replied.

"Oh, you sweet thing," he crooned. "As interesting as that might be, I have no desire to hurt you," he said.

"Then why say you want to be dominant and bind my hands?" she asked. She was so confused now that she was almost at the point of panic.

"Shhh," he eased her again, this time placing a gentle hand on her forehead and using his sorcery to help ease her anxiety. "I want you to completely lose control of yourself," he said plainly. "Can you do that? Can you let go and trust me like that?"

She whimpered and nodded.

"Good," he said, moving back down her body, leaving a trail of kisses as he went. When he got to the mark on her chest, he held her hips down with his hands and pulled his knee away from her crotch. She had been very close to orgasm before they started talking, and he wasn't quite sure how close she was still. He didn't want to take any chances as he kissed the bruise, tracing its outer rim with his lips before sinking his teeth in the same spot.

Myrkr gave a choked out groan, her body arching toward him as best she could while he clamped onto her skin for a long moment before releasing her and gently lapping at the renewed bruise. She panted heavily and was so distracted that she didn't realize he'd let go of her hips so that he could resume teasing her breasts with his hands. She gripped the headboard even more tightly because she couldn't let go. She wanted so badly to touch him back, and before she realized that she'd moved, her legs were wrapped around his, her hips lifting upward to grind against him.

Loki smiled at her newfound abandon. He let it go on for a short while before reaching down and gripping her beneath her knees. He felt his cock pulse at the heated gasp she made when he slowly and purposefully spread and lifted her legs until her knees were pinned on either side of her. Her toes curled and her feet instinctively kicked.

His smile faded when he finally let himself take a full breath of her scent. She was as intoxicating as she was intoxicated, perhaps more so. It took all of his self control not to taste her right away. instead, he continued his trail of kisses until he reached her navel. He allowed himself to taste the few drops of sweat that had pooled there and even that was almost too much for him. He growled and nipped at the flat of her stomach just above her pubic hair.

Seeing the ripple of pleasure that caused in her helped Loki reign in his self control enough to take his time in gently kissing the outer lips of her womanhood. Though, he barely kept from chuckling with delight as she ineffectually tried to strain toward him. He could see her starting to glisten and twitch with arousal.

"Ah, Loki," she gasped when his lips skated past her most sensitive spots without actually making contact. Now, she was starting to understand how he was being dominant without being overly aggressive.

He made a low sound of satisfaction before taking pity on her by slowly running his tongue along her slit. Just that small taste made his eyes roll. "There is something about the taste of you that drives me absolutely wild," he told her. "Is that why Jotuns don't use their mouths to please their partners?"

She gave a weird little laugh. "I don't know," she barely answered. "I don't have any experience with that, remember?"

He licked her again, marveling at how her back could still arch up off the bed with her legs pinned as they were. "I bet that's why. If you lot did this sort of thing, no one would get anything done. Everyone would just be rolling around licking and humping each other," he joked.

Instinctively, she tried to hit him for that remark, but her magical bindings prevented that, leaving her to growl in ineffectual frustration. "Wouldn't that be paradise for you?" she sniped.

He smiled up at her, pleased that she seemed to be getting into the spirit of the game. He wanted a bit of verbal play before she completely lost all sense. "I think you would enjoy it too, if you gave that sort of thing a chance," he chided. Then, he licked her again, this time pushing a bit deeper, spreading her lips with his tongue.

"You're already more than I can handle sometimes," she confessed breathily.

He didn't reply to that, though he did take it as a compliment. He just kept up his slow, determined movements with his tongue until he had coaxed her womanhood wide open for him, a sight that made him ache to be inside her. Then, he blew a steady stream of cold air up and down the length of her opened slit until she started to buck and twitch, her moans dropping an octave, at which point he stopped.

Myrkr's eyes grew wide, and she let out a groan of anguish.

"You were very close just then, weren't you?" he asked earnestly.

She whined as she bit her lip and nodded.

He made another sound of appreciation and moved back up to her chest, making sure not to make contact with any more of her than he had to in order to keep her pinned while teasing her breasts with his mouth.

"You're going to make me go crazy!" she half-complained as he once again coaxed her nipples out.

"That's the plan," he assured.

At that, she couldn't argue. If she was ever going to lose her sanity, this way was certainly preferable. She knew they didn't call her husband the silver-tongued devil simply for his rhetorical abilities, but tonight he was definitely earning his reputation.

Once he was satisfied with how eagerly her nipples stuck out at him again, he pulled back to admire his work so far. She was sweating profusely and her eyes were nearly glazed over. He pulled her legs apart a little further as he moved up to kiss her. She groaned against his lips as she tasted herself on him. It was an unusual feeling, but one that she appreciated. She kissed him back eagerly, feeling the need for as much physical contact as possible from her limited position.

When he finally broke away so that she could breathe more easily, she said in a panting voice, "I want to touch you so badly."

"I know," he said, nuzzling her cheek with his own. "But you can wait, right? For me, you can wait," he said into her ear, making another shudder ripple through her.

She made a strange little sound because now it felt like he was barely touching her but at the same time like he was all over her.

"Good because you're almost always so collected, so self-contained. I need to see you completely lose it," he confessed as he slowly pulled back.

"Ah," she gasped, "Don't-"

"I'm not leaving you," he said surely. "I'm simply sitting back to undress myself."

She hadn't even realized that her eyes were mostly closed until she turned to focus on him when he said that. As he let go of her legs and raised up onto his knees, his skin remaining blue even after they stopped touching, she realized that this was the first time he'd stripped for her in Jotun form. Just the thought made her lips tremble.

Loki chuckled a little when he noticed how fixed Myrkr's eyes were on him. He could almost see them glowing in the dim light of their bedchamber. She watched his nimble fingers unfasten his dress armor and toss onto the chair on his side of the bed before unlacing the neck of his green tunic.

Myrkr's legs slowly slid shut as Loki pulled his shirt up over his head, revealing his pale blue chest, where his most intricate line patterns were located, patterns that she had memorised. When her mind wandered, she often found that her fingers would trace those patterns on whatever they found. She tested the magical bonds on her hands again, but to no avail. When his hands started to untie the laces on his pants, her belly quivered with anticipation.

He stopped once they were unlaced and hooked his thumbs in the top of his pants. "You know, I completely understand why you like to wear so little while in Asgard. These clothes are absolutely suffocating. Honestly, I'm surprised you don't wear less than you already do," he mused.

Myrkr twitched a little. The little bit that was left of her logical mind, the small piece that hadn't been overwhelmed by heat and exhaustion and lust and alcohol, told her that he was messing with her. The rest was mentally screaming about why he wasn't naked yet. She was so upset by his dallying that she didn't realize that she had started to rub her legs together. She did, however, feel the pressure building in her once again as she watched him slowly slide out of his pants, leaving his weeping erection to stand proudly out in the open air. She even gave a sympathetic little moan when he gently stroked himself at the sight of her behaving so desperately for him.

She was on the precipice of release before she knew what was happening, and Loki knew it. He could see it in her face, hear it in her voice, and smell it in her scent, and at the last second, he pried her knees apart. It took more of his strength than he was expecting, but he was able to manage it, and she was furious.

She bucked, kicked, and writhed in his grasp, screaming obscenities at him all the while. It took a few moments for her calm down enough to notice that he was just sitting there beaming down at her with one of the most victorious grins she'd ever seen. She started to shake and screwed her eyes shut. She had been so close, and she could still feel the throbbing in her abdomen. It was almost unbearable. She knew that even the slightest touch could send her over the edge.

Loki watched with fascinated admiration as his wife's mouth opened. It looked as though she was about to speak, but all that came out was a strangled little moan of denial. His eyes slowly moved down her body, from her impossibly dark and dilated eyes down to her neck and heaving chest, over her taut stomach and finally to her dripping womanhood. He stared at her for a long moment before looking back up at her face to see that she was wincing.

He cocked his head as he watched her slightly pained expression to determine whether he was reading it right. When she saw how intently he was observing her, she yelled at him. It was an unintelligible sound that was a mix of frustration, desperation, and pleading. He had done it. All her sense and propriety were gone, and if it didn't look so incredibly uncomfortable for her, he would have sat back and enjoyed it a little longer.

Instead, he let go of one of her legs, licked two of his fingers, and swiftly slid them into her. Her expression changed almost immediately. It turned to a hopeful sort of shock, and she said something that sounded like, "If you stop now, so help me-"

She didn't get any further than that before she starting to come. When Loki saw how hard she was straining against her magical bonds, he released them and a moment later, she was curled around his arm, her fingers digging into whatever parts of him she could reach. She growled into his chest and made all manner of strangely erotic noises as he fingered her as steadily as he possibly could with how she was clinging to him.

Her peak lasted an inordinate amount of time, but her grip on him didn't wane. Before long, he felt the need to see her face. He tried to coax her chin upward so that he could look into her eyes, but she didn't respond, not out of defiance, but because she was so out of it that she didn't notice what he was trying to do. So, feeling especially bold, he grabbed her hair, taking a firm grip close to her scalp so as to cause the least amount of pain should she fight him for whatever reason, and slowly pulled her head back.

The pleased groan she gave in response was encouraging, so he pulled her head all the way back, making sure his movements with his other hand didn't falter. It was very much worth it. Her eyes were still rolling and her mouth hung open, letting her sounds of pleasure easily escape. Her face was completely flushed and beads of sweat were starting to run down the sides of her face. Without thinking, he kissed her.

That kiss brought her partially out of her pleasure-induced stupor. She grabbed him around the back of the neck with one hand while pulling him down on top of her. Once she was laying down, she pulled his hand from between her legs and grabbed his cock.

"Now! Take me now!" she demanded.

He knew the only answer to that was to do what she wanted. It only took a second to position himself before he was inside her, and it was heavenly. She was so wet and responsive. He made a mental note to try to keep her from rushing foreplay in the future. Her arms and legs wrapped around him and she pushed back with every bit of strength she had left. It wasn't much, but the effort turned him on even more.

Loki bit his lip as he leaned down over her, pressing his body against hers and pushing her even harder into the mattress. He found her abandon contageous and ended up thrusting into her harder than he ever had. Her near screams of pleasure titalated him and fueled his lust for her and her voice had started to fade into a hoarse groaning by the time he finished with a forceful grunt before stopping to catch his breath.

She panted beneath him, her hands tracing the light patterns on is arms, before he rolled onto his side next to her. They were silent for a long moment after that, holding each other close in spite of the oppressive heat. Once he had started to recover, Loki looked into his wife's eyes. He could see that her sense had returned, and she seemed to be waiting for something. He smiled and kissed her forehead.

"What is it, darling?" he asked softly.

She quirked a wry little smile. "Are you going to let me finish a sentence now?" she teased.

He pursed his lips and gave her an impishly guilty look. "Yeah, you can say whatever you like. I'll let you speak."

She smirked and pushed him down onto his back, climbing on top of him and looking her square in the eye. "That was pretty great," she told him seriously. "Just what I needed in fact. Are you sure that was for you?" she mused.

He smiled up at her. "It was for both of us," he conceded. "It's only fun if we're both enjoying ourselves."

She gave him a dizzy smile and fell off him, giggling like an idiot. As she recovered from that little fit, she noticed something. "Our sheets are an absolute mess," she complained.

"Considering the circumstances, I can't say I mind," he said turning his head to take a whiff of her sweat soaked pillow, smiling lecherously as he did.

"Would it be too rude to ask for them to be changed?" she asked guiltily.

"It would further fuel the rumors about our intimacy if we did," the warned.

She laughed. "At this point, I can't bring myself to care. Yes, it is a bit annoying to know that people are whispering about what happens when we're alone together, but at least the things they're saying now are generally more positive."

"Then I'll send for a maid," he decided as he found a clean pair of pants and changed back into his Asgardian form. "You know," he said just as he was about to step out to find a servant, "People are probably going to start asking you about having children now."

She smiled wryly. "Yeah, I know. Can we talk about that later? I'm really tired," she tried.

"Of course," he agreed. It wasn't a discussion he really wanted to have at that particular moment, just something he knew she should think about.

In the short time he was gone, she'd managed to find a light robe to wear while she sat in the window sill and waited for their bed to be redressed. The servant didn't say anything of real consequence to either of them, but she did seem a little too pleased to be doing such a task at such a small hour of the morning. She also took an extra few seconds to gather their dirty laundry while she was there. Once she was gone, the couple crawled into bed, pulled the curtain, and quickly fell asleep.


	22. A Tense Friendship

A couple of days later Fandral found himself waiting at the royal stable with a pair of horses, one of which was white with gray spots around it's face and legs. He recognized that one as Myrkr's. As he paced about, occasionally petting the beasts to ease his nerves, he recalled how difficult it had been to even get Myrkr on a horse for the first time. She was distrustful of the creature, and it had very similar feelings about her. There seemed to be a natural aversion between them. He recalled how much of his free time Loki spent selecting and training a horse for his wife. The dark-haired prince always had a way with horses, but this was a special challenge even for him. It took countless hours and unfathomable patience to both train the horse and teach the Jotun woman how to ride. Even now, she and her mount weren't exactly friends, but they did work together quite well.

He'd never really thought about it until then, but Fandral always trusted the judgement of horses. They were strong and powerful creatures that were generally very aware of their limitations. They also seemed to be fair judges of character. If a well trained horse was standoffish toward someone, he knew that they were probably not a good person, that they potentially meant them harm. He trusted the senses and instincts of horses to know when danger was afoot before their riders perceived that anything was amiss.

When Myrkr's horse gave a slightly dissatisfied snort, he knew he was no longer alone. "My Lady," he greeted as he turned and bowed to her.

She smiled. "Good afternoon." Then she went over to her horse, her fingers tracing the gray spots on her haunches. "Were you waiting long?"

"I was a bit early, but I wasn't waiting long," he assured as he stood up and actually looked at her. She was dressed in her usual warm weather attire, which generally consisted of the lightest possible dress she could get away with and a pair of slippers. Her hair was piled up on her head, secured with strings of gold, and she wore an emerald pendant attached to a silver chain around her neck. He probably wouldn't have even noticed her necklace if the color of the gem and its chain didn't seem to clash with her skin tone so badly.

"Good," she nodded. "Help me into my saddle?" she asked hopefully. She could mount up herself, but her horse seemed to appreciate it when she had help.

"Of course," he agreed.

Once she was settled, she urged him to follow suit.

"You've gotten much better at horseback riding," he carefully complemented.

"Thanks. I'm fortunate that there was a horse that could stand me, and Loki's done an amazing job training Hestr," she said fondly.

"So she finally has a name," he half-teased. He felt comfortable teasing her about this because it had been a source of amusement between her and their friends that she had a nameless horse.

She rolled her eyes. "I've never named anything before. It's unfortunate for her that I'm so uncreative," she sighed.

He actually laughed at that. "Yes, I suppose a horse named Horse isn't exactly the most original, but the way you say Hestr sounds nice."

She blushed a little. "Thank you."

There was a long silence after that until they were out of the city. "So..." Fandral hesitantly began. "Why did you invite me out today?"

She giggled a little at how nervous he looked. "I thought that after everything that's happened, we should get to know each other," she replied.

He wanted to believe her, but her laugher wasn't exactly reassuring. "Really?" he hedged.

"Why not?" she shrugged.

"It's just that, well, during your return feast the other night, Loki sort of hinted that you might be a bit cross with me for being an obnoxious blabber mouth," he managed.

His excessive hedging made her laugh even harder. "Yeah, I was sort of angry about that, but if I was going to call you out for that, I wouldn't bother leading out of the city to do it. As you know, there are plenty of dark corridors in the castle," she teased.

Fandral swallowed hard. "Yes, you were the one who made me aware of that."

She winced a little. "I am actually sort of sorry about that, but you have to understand that after having one of the most amazing and intimate experiences of my life, it was very disconcerting to have someone I hardly know turn it into something so awful," she tried.

He nodded. "I understand."

There was another awkward silence.

"This silence is quite terrible," she said jokingly. "What would you like to talk about?"

Her hopeful and interested tone was reassuring, but he really had no idea what to say to her. "I-I really don't know. I'm sorry. I'm not trying to be difficult."

She continued to smile at him. "It's alright. How about this? Do you like games?"

"I suppose it depends on the game," he tried.

She shook her head in exasperation. "We'll take turns asking each other questions. Nothing is off to table, at least not right away," she added offhandedly. "I promise I won't get angry with you no matter what you ask, okay?"

"I suppose that sounds fair. You start," he immediately said.

She thought for a moment. "Are you attracted to me?" she asked, an impish glint in her red eyes.

Fandral nearly fell off his horse. "My Lady, I-I-" he stammered.

"Okay, I'm sorry. That's a bit much to start with. How about this? Do you think I'm attractive? I mean, I realize I'm not like the women you're used to seeing. I'm just wondering if you stare at me sometimes because I'm so different or if it's because you actually like what you see," she clarified.

That was a little better, but only a little. He blushed deeply at being called out for staring at her. "You have an unusual sort of beauty," he carefully began. "I must admit that when you first came to Asgard, most of my staring was because you were so different. You don't just look different. The way you talk and move is different too. The more time I've spent around you, the novelty has worn off somewhat, and I've been able to see why Loki would find you attractive," he managed.

"You actually speak quite well when you think first," she chided.

He rolled his eyes. "Thanks."

"Your turn," she urged.

"That night in the corridor, were you really going to kill us? Loki stopped you, but if he hadn't-?" he tried.

She looked a little ashamed. "I would not have killed either of you. I wanted to scare you and show you that I'm not as helpless as I might seem."

Fandral breathed a sigh of relief.

"Did you really think I was going to?" she asked suddenly.

"I really didn't know. I didn't know you very well, and while you didn't seem particularly violent in general, it was difficult not to believe you while so helpless," he admitted. "How long as Loki been changing his form for you?" he asked, then winced a little, unsure about how she would react to such a personal question.

She smiled wistfully. "Quite some time. I won't say that his Asgardian appearance isn't handsome, but there are certain times when his ability to shift to Jotun form is advantageous." Then she looked up and saw that they were approaching the stream. "Do you mind if we have our lunch there? It's one of my favorite spots."

"Of course not. It's a wonderful spot," he agreed.

They stopped, dismounted, and set up their picnic. While they ate, she shifted their question and answer exchange to topics that were more casual. She asked about Fandral's childhood and memories growing up with Loki and Thor, and in turn, he asked about her culture, though she seemed unwilling to delve too deep into her own childhood.

"You know the people of Asgard better than I do. It is my observation that they speak very honestly with you. What do they think about me?" she asked with hopeful apprehension.

"It's taken them a while to warm up to you, but you are generally liked. You've never spoken poorly in public or done anything scandalous. When your arrival was announced, pretty much everyone I spoke with was outraged. They felt sorry for Loki for having to marry you. After your arrival though, you were always so unassuming that they couldn't help but come around." He frowned a bit. "Then they just felt sorry for the both of you." He forced a smile after that. "But now everyone is very happy for you both. Seeing you dancing and laughing together after coming back from Jotunheim made a lot of people really like you," he assured.

Though that was what she was expecting to hear, it still made Myrkr smile.

"What do you think of us?" he asked.

Myrkr pursed her lips and looked away. "At first, I was terrified. To be the only one of your kind in a strange place. Everyone as just a big blur of pasty faces. They seemed like nice faces, but I got the distinct impression that the niceness didn't run any deeper than that. I came here with the understanding that Asgardian men take one person and keep them for life, mating them whenever and however they pleased. I'd like to think that the people who taught me those things were doing it to prepare me for the worst, and I was intensely relieved when I found out that was not exactly the case. For the most part, I find the people here to be warm but distant. I still have a hard time reading your expressions and body language, but I'm getting better, and I generally like what I see. You're all very polite, even when you don't mean it, which honestly is one of the most confusing things for me," she laughed. "I'm sorry, I'm rambling. Overall, I rather like the people here."

That made him happier than he expected. His happiness lasted until he realized how intently Myrkr was staring at him while tapping her index finger on her bottom lip. "What?" he asked anxiously.

"I'm just thinking about what to ask you next," she replied innocently. She thought for another minute or so before asking, "Did you really ask Loki if it was unpleasant to be intimate with me?"

Fandral pursed his lips and looked away guiltily. "Not exactly. I not so politely said that it would be understandable if he wasn't intimate with you because you're so cold-physically cold," he hastily added. "I sort of called you an icicle," he said with a wince.

She blushed and giggled.

"That's funny?" he asked warily.

"Colloquially you either called me a rather virile man," she snickered, "or a very dominant woman."

He made a weird face. "I didn't mean-" he stammered.

"Oh, no, of course not, but it is funny," she insisted. "Wow. I wish I'd been there when you'd said those things. I suppose I would have been angry, but I probably still would have laughed."

Fandral shook his head in exasperation. "Thor said that your people are more open about, well, pretty much everything. Is that true? Are there there anything that you don't like to talk about?"

"Compared to here, yeah, it's very true. That's a lot of why I didn't talk very much my first few months here. I was getting a feel for what was okay to talk about and how you're supposed to talk about it. It was all very strange. I mean, I wasn't generally the most outspoken back home, but shyness isn't really a valued trait where I'm from. It's one thing to be quiet, reclusive, or self-contained, but being outright unwilling to speak up is highly discouraged." She had more she could say about that, but decided against it. "We don't like to talk about things that we don't have any control over. Say the weather is unpleasant. Here, everyone I talk to will say something about it. Back on Jotunheim, people will think you're weird for pointing it out."

Myrkr looked at Fandral. He didn't seem satisfied with her answer, so she tried again. "We don't like to talk about...the really deep feelings," she said after a few seconds to think. "It's not uncommon to see people behaving very intensely with one another, but if you asked someone from Jotunheim to describe the way they feel for someone, they would rather not. They might even get offended that you were questioning them, since it should be obvious from the way they behave together. I've done a lot of reading in the library, and quite a bit of the reading I did at first was about relationships, especially romantic sorts of relationships. I was very uncomfortable reading the passages in some of the stories where the characters made these long expositions where they laid out exactly how they felt for one another. It was strange for me to think about people playing the kinds of social games where they would even have to make, say, a declaration of love."

Fandral found that he actually liked that idea, but his thoughtful expression was misread by his company.

"You don't understand a word I'm saying, do you?" she sighed. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I've seen how you like to make those sorts of declarations, and I suppose I can't blame you. Your friends and romantic interests seem to quite enjoy when you do that sort of thing."

"No, I understand. I really do. I've spent a lot of time practicing those sorts of things. What you described, just showing someone how you feel by behaving honestly and openly toward them, that sounds amazing. We're taught from a very young age to keep our more intense feelings inside until we're sure how the other person will react," he told her seriously.

Myrkr smiled. "Okay, pretend we're living the way I described. How would you show me how you really feel about me?"

He shifted awkwardly as he thought for a few seconds, but for him those few seconds seemed like forever. "I-I'm not sure how I'd do that. What if I do something meaning one thing and it turns out meaning something else to you?"

"If you don't want to, I understand," she eased, "but if you'd like to try, I want you to trust that I'll understand your meaning."

Hesitantly, Fandral took her hand. It was the first time he'd ever made physical contact with her. He had heard from others how cold her skin was, but this was the first time he'd felt it himself. He expected it to be like handling ice, and it sort of was, but her skin was surprisingly soft. Without thinking, he ran his thumb over some of the raised markings on the back of her hand, finding the thin lines a little firmer than the rest of her skin. When he realized just how intimate he found that small gesture, he looked up into her red eyes, finding her looking curiously at him. He blushed a little, feeling silly and unsure of himself.

"What else?" she pressed hopefully.

Fandral looked away, though he was reluctant to remove his hand from hers. "I don't think I should do more than this," he said, shooting a nervous glance over at the castle.

"You're afraid that my husband is watching," she said plainly as she fiddled with the emerald pendant that hung around her neck.

He was surprised by how unmoved she seemed by that fact, as though it didn't matter at all to her. "I suppose I am worried that if someone happened to see us, they would get the wrong idea," he managed.

"He probably is watching," she confirmed. "If he's got nothing better to do," she shrugged.

Fandral gasped and tried to pull his hand away, but she held him fast.

"You were doing so well," she sighed regretfully.

He glared. He felt tricked, like she'd led him into some sort of trap.

"Why are you angry with me?" she asked suddenly.

"This is wrong," he said, finally pulling his hand back. "You know it just as well as I do. You shouldn't ask other men out on private picnics. You hold my hand and provoke me and then tell me that your husband, a man I know to have a habit of jealousy, is watching us!" he lectured.

His accusations made her angry, but she did well to push that aside. "You have my word, if he is watching, it's only out of curiosity. Whatever happens, he won't hold it against you," she promised. "And it's not as though I'm trying to seduce you," she dismissed.

Fandral scoffed. "You just said you read all about Asgardian romance. This might as well be a scene right out of one of those stupid novels!" he accused.

"And I just told you that I found those stories baffling and uncomfortable," she retorted. "Here," she sighed, "I'll try this your way." She moved around in front of him to force eye contact because he refused to turn to look at her. "I know that you're a good person. I know that things between us haven't been easy." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I want us to be friends. I realize that with all the tension between us before now that it won't be easy, at least at first, but I think we owe it to ourselves and to everyone we mutually call friends to try. It might be awkward, and we'll probably say or do the wrong thing from time to time, but from now on, I promise not to get angry or upset with you. I hope you can try to do the same for me," she made herself say.

Fandral was blown away by that. He sat in stunned silence for a long moment before nodding. "Yeah, okay, I'll try. I'm sorry. I was just very uncomfortable, and I didn't want to make things worse than they already were."

She smiled as she sat back down beside him and took his hand. "I understand. I have heard that Loki had the tendency to be a rather jealous person. I've noticed that is quite common among second sons here. It's quite unfortunate," she sighed.

"I couldn't even imagine what it would be like to have Thor as an older brother either," he said sympathetically.

Myrkr smiled a little. "Thor's very sweet. It's not his fault, or anyone else's, that he's the epitome of what this society values while his younger brother has skills that are viewed skeptically, even with distrust. It is my observation that they are equals, that together they maintain a very delicate balance. I wish more people could see that," she said sadly.

Fandral could feel her hand trembling a little as she spoke. "If Loki didn't use his magic for playing tricks and things like that, more people would have a greater appreciation for what he can do," he tried.

She shook her head. "Some people might, but he does those things because there are some people that will look down on his magic no matter what he does with it. Even when he uses it to enhance his fighting skills, I've heard some say that he's cheating," she shot a sidelong glance at Fandral who winced because he had made comments like that.

"Just because we can't do those sorts of things," he tried.

"But you don't complain when Thor pins you or strikes you down with the sheer force of his physical might," she insisted. "Loki's strength lies in his mind, asking him not to use that would be like," she paused for a second to think of the right analogy, "asking Thor to fight with his arms bound and expecting him to fare the same as if they weren't."

Fandral fell silent for a moment. "I hadn't really thought about it like that."

"He's studied hard to be able to do the things he does," she insisted.

He nodded. "I know. I'm sorry. I promise I won't say disparaging things like that in the future, and I'll try to make others see reason if I hear them doing the same," he promised.

His verbal promise made Myrkr a little uncomfortable, so she squeezed his hand. "Thank you," she whispered. Then, feeling as though they had made enough progress for one day, she suggested that they gather up their picnic and head back to the city.

On their way back, they rode closer than they had before. Myrkr found their increased proximity comforting and tried to encourage Fandral to feel the same way. Just before they reached the city, she had him stop.

"What is it?" he asked, turning to look at her.

"Thank you for today. I know it's difficult-" she began.

Fandral could finally see how uncomfortable she was trying to recite her feelings to him, so he took her hand and gave it a squeeze, offering a reassuring smile as he did and relishing her sigh of relief. This made Myrkr want to push him just a little more before they returned to the watchful eyes of the city. She used their handhold to pull him close enough to give him the barest whisper of a kiss on the cheek.

Fandral's stomach bottomed out when he realized what she was doing but he was incapable of stopping her. He had no words when she gently pulled away, an almost shy smile on her lips. Neither of them spoke until they got to the stable and bid each other a good evening before parting ways.

When Myrkr got to back to her and Loki's chambers, she found him waiting for her.

"Did you enjoy your date?" he asked disinterestedly, glancing over the top of his book as he swirled his wine.

She smirked and tossed the emerald pendant she'd been wearing onto the table next to him. "What do you think?"

Loki grabbed the pendant and held it in his palm as he closed his eyes. A minute later he set it back on the table. "He's an idiot."

Myrkr shook her head in exasperation. "He'll be better now. He promised," she assured.

Loki rolled his eyes and set down his book before taking her hand and pulling her into his lap. "He's an idiot for thinking that you'd try to seduce him."

"Don't tell me that something like that really would make you jealous," she half-teased. "Besides, he was right. It was essentially a scene from one of those silly romance novels."

He gave a little growl and nipped at her bare shoulder. "He was projecting. He's attracted to you, whether he likes it or not, and it scares him."

"I scare him," she corrected, running her fingers through his hair.

"Of course you do. You threatened to kill him, and I threatened to let you," he chuckled before licking up the side of her arm. "Why are you even bothering with that fool anyway? Don't tell me you've developed a fancy for poorly grown mustaches."

She tried not to laugh, not because his joke was funny but because her mental image of her husband with a mustache was. "Thor asked me to try to make peace with him."

Loki made a dismissive sound and nipped at her shoulder again.

"It's a good idea. People here like him. They trust him and speak with him freely," she reasoned.

"Yes, but unlike you, he's done nothing to earn that trust. And it's not the people of Asgard you should be so concerned with," he reminded.

"Besides, you are the one who frequently encourages me to look at others," she taunted, tugging on his hair. It had grown quite a bit since she'd first met him.

He nipped at her again, this time near her collarbone because that was where he happened to be kissing her at the time. "Because you were the one who pointed out that I don't understand what you fancy," he retorted. "And even so, you don't look at him in that way."

She nodded. "In that, you are right. He is thin and fair. You wear that build much better, so there's no reason for me to let my gaze linger on him when I could more easily look upon you instead. If my eyes were to wander, it would make more sense for them to find something different."

Loki stopped kissing her chest to look up into her darkening red eyes. He could tell she was serious, but she had also stated more than once that she had no lustful inclinations for anyone but him. Their emotional attachment and shared Jotun features made it so that she was attracted to him exclusively, which was part of why he was so comfortable occasionally prodding her to see if she found any of his Asgardian kinsmen, or kinswomen, attractive. Even when she did admit to finding something that she liked about someone else, it was almost always a non-physical trait. He was about to continue that discussion further by asking her, once again, if there was someone else who had caught her attention, even just in passing, when she started kissing him.


	23. Heatwave

Summer hit Asgard hard that year, its population experiencing record high temperatures with no relief in sight. This led to Myrkr spending inordinate amounts of time in the vault with the casket and being incredibly irritable the rest of the time. Her time outside the vault was usually spent in her chambers because that was the only place where she could comfortably do the two things things that helped her deal with the heat: get naked and surround herself with a bubble of cold air.

She had noticed that she wasn't the only one wearing as little as etiquette would allow. The men of Asgard took off their shirts and rolled up their pants whenever they got the chance, and the women wore increasingly lighter blouses and thin, flowing skirts and dresses. She has even been asked by a number of women what fabrics were the coolest. However, when they started asking her to help cool them off with her special frost giant abilities, she grew even more irritated. It wasn't that she didn't want to help them, but it took so much of her energy to keep herself cool that she felt she had little to spend on others.

"I realize it's hot, but you can't just lock yourself in here all day every day just so you can freeze our chambers," Loki teasingly lectured one afternoon as they lay in bed. They'd been there for so long that icicles were starting to form on the curtain surrounding their bed.

"I don't care. This heat is making me sick. I can't stand it," she bitterly complained. Though in the back of her mind, she was thankful that this heat wave hadn't come a year before, when she would have felt uncomfortable complaining about it.

"If you didn't do things like this, you might get used to the heat a little more. It would be less of a shock to your system if you didn't hide in our frozen chambers," he said. He did enjoy the break from the heat, but he knew this wasn't the best way for her to spend her time.

"I've learned to deal with heat that I thought was unbearable...until now. Every time I got outside I feel like the sun is sitting on my shoulders. I feel like I'm going to collapse just from breathing in the scorching air," she told him.

He genuinely felt sorry for her. He was the only one she complained to about these sorts of things. Knowing that she found it annoying when others complained about it, he realized it had to be bad for her to be making such a big deal like she was. "Do you want to go back to Jotunheim until the heat breaks?" he offered.

She frowned. "That sounds nice, but I'm not ready to go back there yet. The climate might be hospitable, but I'm not ready to play politics with the people who aren't. I'm sorry. I really shouldn't be complaining about something I don't have any control over."

"I brought it up," he dismissed as he sat up. Loki looked down at his wife as she lay on their bed. Even with the bubble of ice magic surrounding them, she looked terrible. She was sweating, her skin pallid, and every time she opened her eyes, she squinted at the brightness. With a sigh, he got up and slipped on some light clothes.

"Where are you going?" she asked quietly.

"I have a couple of things I need to get done today. I'll be back for dinner, alright?" he replied.

"I'm sorry," she said, turning away from him ever so slightly.

Loki frowned sympathetically as he moved over to her side of the bed. He bent over and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead. "Stay cool," he earnestly bid her before leaving.

When he returned that evening it was with a large tray of frozen fruit, as that was what she had taken to eating almost exclusively, and found her laying in a half-conscious state in the same spot he'd left her before. He nearly dropped the tray when he saw her.

"Myrkr!" he said, shaking her slightly and trying to hide the panic in his voice.

"Nngh," she groaned a little and her eyes fluttered open. "What? What is it?" she asked lazily.

Loki breathed a sigh of relief and suddenly felt foolish for thinking the worst. "Oh, I brought you something to eat," he said.

They set the tray on their bed and he helped her sit up, though she didn't really seem to want the help, and ate their evening meal that way.

"It pains me to see you in such a state," he lamented.

Myrkr rolled a frozen grape between her fingers. "It's not your fault, and really it's these sorts of situations that will make me even stronger when I return to a more comfortable environment," she reasoned hopefully.

At least her optimism had returned. Though, he couldn't help feeling it was because he left so suddenly after her earlier complaining that was forcing her into a more positive outlook. "I'd like to do something for you," he began.

She smiled. "You already have," she said popping a strawberry into her mouth. "This little feast is doing wonders for me."

He almost confessed that the idea had originally not been his own. "I would like to take you somewhere that you would be more comfortable. I'm not sure if you realize, but we never had a honeymoon, which is customary for newlywed couples, and while our first anniversary was eventful, it wasn't very relaxing," he joked.

"We didn't go anywhere because I'd already traveled across the stars to be with you, and your parents needed to keep an eye on us to make sure we weren't going to kill each other," she replied.

"We deserve a vacation," he asserted.

"You really don't have to do that for me. The heat will break soon enough, and then we'll laugh at how pathetic I've behaved over the last couple of weeks," she reasoned.

"I don't have to, but I want to," he told her.

"But where would we go? Your whole planet is baking right now," she laughed sardonically.

"I'll figure something out," he vowed. Anything would be better than watching her waste her energy in the futile effort to maintain an ambient temperature that didn't make her look like she was about to collapse at any moment.

She shrugged and let it go, knowing that there was no arguing with him. If he did find a way for them to escape the heat, then she would be eternally grateful. If he didn't, it wasn't something worth making a big deal about.

The following morning, Loki walked Myrkr down to the vault before going to visit his parents.

"How does your Lady faire?" Odin asked knowingly.

"This heat is killing her," the dark-haired prince lamented.

"It is hard on all of us," the Allfather reminded.

"Hardest on her for certain, though," Frigga interjected. "Is there something we can do to help her?"

"I would like to take her away from here for a while," their adopted son informed.

"But the longer she endures the heat, the stronger she becomes," Odin reminded.

"That may be the case, but we never had our honeymoon. Even you and mother have gone on private vacations since I was married," he informed.

"What did you have in mind?" Frigga asked hopefully.

"After some consideration, I think a trip to Midgard would be best. That realm has a wide variety of climates and the ones that are most hospitable to her are not populated by the natives," he reasoned.

"It's been quite some time since you've been to Midgard. The people there have changed much. They no longer take kindly to visitors from other worlds," Odino warned.

"And as I said, we will not be spending our time in their population centers. The polar regions are barren and covered in ice and snow," Loki insisted.

"Hardly sounds like a vacation," Frigga mused lightly. "But I suppose that depends on your perspective." She looked to her husband, who shrugged. "As long as you're both careful, I don't see why not."

Odin nodded. "You will enchant her appearance until you're certain of your safety."

"Of course," Loki agreed. "Thank you." It took quite a bit of his self control to keep from running to Myrkr when he left there. He found her in the vault, sitting with the casket on her outstretched legs. She appeared to be concentrating on something, but he didn't hesitate to interrupt her. "I did it," he told her triumphantly.

She blinked a couple of times to regain her visual focus. "Fantastic!" Then after a moment to stand and put the casket back on its pedestal, she said. "What did you do?"

He laughed a little. "We're taking a vacation to one of the polar regions of Midgard. It is always freezing cold there and there won't be anyone around to bother us," she told her happily. Before marrying her, such an excursion would have sounded more like torture than a vacation, which made him laugh a little again.

"Is that safe? I've read that the people there can be very violent and aren't terribly smart," she hedged.

"We'll be cautious, but once we get where we're going, it should be fine," he dismissed.

He seemed so excited about it that she couldn't help letting go of some of her misgivings. "It would be nice to get away for a while."

He beamed at her and kissed her. "Come on. Let's start getting ready," he urged as he took her hand and led her out of the vault.

"Right away?" she asked anxiously.

"Why wait? It's not getting any cooler here," he reminded.

That made her give in. "Alright. Let's get ready."

They each packed one bag. Loki assured her that if they needed anything more than that, it could be found where they were going and with minimal effort. When they were finished, they set their bags by the door and climbed into bed. Myrkr tried to get Loki to tell her more about Midgard, but he just told her that she would see for herself. He didn't do that to build up her anticipation, rather the opposite. By and large, he didn't find it to be the most interesting realm, but that was part of its current appeal.

"There is one more thing we need to do to prepare," he said once she had given up on asking about where they were going.

She ran through a mental list of all the things she thought she might need while they were away. They had either been packed or to be found upon arrival. "What's that?" she asked curiously.

"Father has instructed me to enchant your appearance so if we should encounter any Humans when we arrive, we won't draw any unwanted attention to ourselves," he told her.

After a second to think about that, she nodded. "That sounds reasonable. Then, you'll change me back when we get settled, right?"

"Of course," he agreed.

"What about you?" she proposed.

He smiled. "My Asgardian appearance should suffice. That physical appearance is similar enough to that of Humans that they won't be able to tell I'm from elsewhere without using sophisticated means," he assured.

"That's convenient," she mused.

"Quite. Would you rather I enchant you now or before we leave in the morning?" he proposed.

"Now would probably be better, so I have a chance to get used to it a bit," she reasoned.

Loki had her stand in the middle of the room while he stood before her, his outstretched arms and open palms toward her while he recited the enchantment that would temporarily alter her appearance. As she started to change, he had to close his eyes to keep his concentration. During her transformation, Myrkr thought she could feel his magic working on her, but it was so subtle that she couldn't say for sure if it was her imagination.

When he was finished, he opened his eyes. It was difficult to hide his reaction to her. She was just as beautiful in that form as she was naturally, but he didn't want her to think that he had a preference for the enchantment. To distract her from his reaction, he led her into their wardrobe so that she could see herself in their full length mirrors.

She gasped at what she saw. Her blue skin had turned a lovely shade of light brown. It appeared that she had spent quite a bit of time in the sun. She looked at her face, twisting and licking her slightly pinkened lips and sticking out her red tongue before looking herself in the eyes. They were green, which made her smile. Another thing that made her smile was that he had left her long black hair as it was. She made a little turn to see that the curves of her body had also remained the same.

"What do you think?" Loki asked his wife before she could ask him first.

"It's not as bad as I thought," she teased. Then, she realized something. "It's still unbearable hot, though. I thought this form would ease that."

He laughed a little. "Unfortunately, it takes a fair amount of magic for me to change someone else so thoroughly. I only transformed your appearance, an enchantment that can last indefinitely. Changing your physiology for an extended period would require me to renew the enchantment from time to time. If I was certain of how long I would have to maintain the enchantment, I would do that, but I'm not entirely sure how long it will be necessary," he told her.

"Oh, alright then," she shrugged.

"You're disappointed," he said, obviously unhappy with that fact.

"It's fine. I was just hoping for a preemptive break from the heat, that's all," she replied, the gave him a slightly impish look.

"Or perhaps an opportunity to make our own heat?" he proposed.

"It would be different like that...but if you don't think you could concentrate," she playfully taunted.

He gave her a challenging look. "Is there anything else you'd like to change while I'm at it?"

She thought about it for a moment. "No, I think I rather like the rest."

"As you wish, My Lady," he said with mock grandeur.

Another couple minutes later, she felt a cool rush sweep over her body. It made her gasp and shiver. Loki smirked and stepped back.

"How do you feel?" he asked curiously.

"It's still rather warm, but-" she said, then felt her skin ripple. "Ah, look!" she held out her arm.

"Goosebumps," he chuckled. "You're probably the only one on Asgard who could get goosebumps in this heat," he teased.

She smiled and wrapped her arms around him. "Mmmm," she hummed as she held him close. "You're so warm, but it's actually sort of nice." She didn't wait for him to reply before kissing him. His warm, wet mouth, soft lips and tongue had her squirming in a matter of moments.

She was just about to lead him back into the bedroom when he turned her around in his arms.

"What are you doing?" she asked breathlessly as one of his arms snaked around her waist while his other hand pulled her hair to one side. Her breath caught in her throat when he started kissing her neck and nibbling on her ear.

"Look," he bid, nudging her jaw with his chin to coax her into looking into the mirror.

She did as he told her, finding the flush that was darkening her tan skin to be a rather exciting sight. It was surreal to see her expressions and movements portrayed in a body that she hardly recognized as her own. "It's almost like I'm watching you seduce someone else," she marveled.

"Does it _feel_ like I'm seducing someone else?" he asked curiously, the hand on her waist moving down to stroke and tickle her thighs.

"It feels like I'm possessing someone elses body," she managed after a moment. It was hard to think about such existential matters with the way he was touching her.

Loki's other hand moved beneath her blouse. Well, calling it a blouse was generous. It was more like a thin piece of fabric that happened to have arm and neck holes. The shoulders of it were practically strings, and it didn't come down any further than absolutely necessary to cover her breasts. She might as well have not been wearing a top at all, and the only reason she did bother with it was in case someone stopped by to see her for some reason. It was the absolute minimum she could get away with wearing in front of someone else, and only when she was in their chambers.

Myrkr made a strange little sound when Loki's fingers grazed over her puffy, pert nipples. She looked down a bit to see them already poking out the thin fabric of her top, and the sight made her blush even harder. "This body is lewd," she weakly complained.

He chuckled against her shoulder. "Not any more so than your natural form. You're just not accustomed to this," he eased. "Remember when you first started exploring my Jotun form? If you recall, I was surprised by how sensitive I was to your touches. I've since become more accustomed to such things and don't behave quite so foolishly when we're together like that."

She smiled a little at the comparison. "Are you sure you didn't happen to make me extra sensitive?" she playfully accused.

"I would have if I didn't think this wouldn't be enough," he retorted as he brushed his lips over her skin.

"Bite me," she urged when his mouth moved over the spot on her shoulder where he had first marked her.

He looked up at her in the mirror. "I don't think that's such a good idea," he said.

"Please? Not necessarily hard, but I want to know," she tried.

He nodded, a mischievous grin on his lips as he leaned back down over her shoulder. He kissed and licked her skin until he found the perfect spot. Then, he nipped at the skin over the muscle, making her squirm and give heated little sighs, before sinking his teeth into her. It was gentle at first, but he did slowly increase the pressure until her knees buckled and she yelped in pain.

"Stop!" she nearly shouted.

That was all she had to say. He was planting apologetic kisses on the spot in no time.

"Is that how hard I bit you to make the mark on your chest before we went to Jotunheim?" she asked hesitantly.

He chuckled against her skin. "No, my dear, you bit me much harder," he said as he turned her to see that he had hardly left more than a pink ring on her skin where she had left a sizable bruise on him with hardly a second thought. "But don't worry about that. I am more accustomed to how an Asgardian body handles pain. I did grow up with Thor as my older brother, remember," he joked.

She winced a little at that. "I bit him very hard," she confessed.

"Don't think about him," Loki bid, his hands moving to fondle her a little more aggressively to help distract her.

When he finally reached down and pulled up her light skirt to grab between her legs, she nearly fell over.

"Am I detecting some unexpected sensitivity?" he teased as his fingers slid along her slit, teasing her pubic hair.

She whimpered. "Your hands are so warm," she barely said. "I never thought such a thing could feel so good."

That made him finally give in and practically drag her back to their bedroom and throw her onto the bed. She was about to speak again when he started hastily undressing. It was strange seeing him this way. For the majority of their relationship, she had seen him in his Asgardian form. She had always found him handsome that way, though not quite as comely as when he was in Jotun form, but this was different. She remembered a confession he'd made quite some time ago about their first kiss. He told her that seeing her through Jotun eyes had significantly altered his opinion of her, that he instinctively found her more attractive. Now she understood what he meant. Though, she did miss being able to smell how aroused he was, not that it mattered once he was nude.

Loki haste ceased when he laid down on top of her. They spent an almost inordinate amount of time simply touching each other and rubbing their bodies together in different ways. When he started to grow impatient, that feeling was quelled by how fascinated she was.

"How are you doing? Do you like this form?" he asked knowingly as he palmed her breast with one hand and grasped her hip with the other.

She made a little sound of approval. "I'm doing very well. It's still a little disconcerting, a bit jarring when I think about it, but it's also very exciting. It's weird to me that I can still feel hot unbelievably hot it is, and getting hotter," she added with a wink, "but it's not bad at all." Then she thought of something. "If you could do this for me from time to time, we wouldn't have to leave Asgard," she proposed.

Loki frowned. "We're not just leaving so that you can escape the heat. I want to spend time together without being constantly scrutinized. I want some time truly alone with you," he asserted.

His words made her heart soar, and she smiled widely at him as she rolled them over. "You are so amazing," she praised as she straddled his hips.

Loki gasped when she grabbed his length and started to steer it toward her wet heat. This was the most sexually aggressive she'd been in a long time, and he almost let her do it but stopped her at the last minute. "Darling," he barely said.

"Hm?" she distractedly prompted. She was taking longer than usual to get into position because she was busy marveling at how good his warm cock felt in her hand.

"Before we do that, I want to do one more thing for. I want to show you something," he proposed.

"What's that?" she barely replied, running her thumb over the beading slit.

He smirked and grabbed her hips. With one swift motion, he brought her up to straddle his face. She made a sound of surprise and grabbed the first thing she could to keep from falling over. By the time she realized she was clinging to their headboard, his mouth was one her womanhood, his tongue making slow passes up and down the folds and occasionally stopping at her clitoris to make tight little circles there before starting over again.

Never in her life had she found heat so utterly intoxicating. She could feel his hot breath on her thighs and the warmth of his tongue felt unimaginably good. Less than a minute later, her hips were rocking against him and she had lowered herself a little more so that she was essentially grinding herself against his face.

When she started to peak, she couldn't believe how wonderful the warm pressure felt as it built inside her and moved lower. She could feel her muscles tightening until finally her methodical motions became erratic, and she came on his expertly working tongue. Lucky for him, although a fair portion of her physiology had changed, the things that gave her pleasure didn't seem to.

Dazed, she sat back on his chest to catch her breath. He smiled up at her and massaged her thighs, finding some of the still twitching muscles and working them into a more relaxed state. He let her gather her bearings and enjoy the aftermath of her release before moving her back down to where she started. With a cheeky grin, he positioned her just above his anxious length.

Without a second thought, she slowly slid down onto him. It had been so long since he'd had sex with another Asgardian that being engulfed by her twitching heat was almost enough to do him in. He had to bite his lip to push those kinds of thoughts from his mind as she started to roll her hips against his.

"This doesn't make things any cooler, but it sure is a nice distraction," she mused before raising up so that she could lower herself again.

"Uh-huh," was about all Loki could manage for a reply as he grabbed her hips and urged her to move faster.

She happily obliged and before long her eyes were screwed shut with her hands resting on his shoulders for leverage as she moved faster and harder in accordance with what both their bodies were pushing her toward.

Loki couldn't take his eyes off her. This woman sounded and moved like his wife, but otherwise she was completely different. It gave him the thrill of cheating without any of the guilt. He even uttered a few vague compliments before spilling himself inside her with a forceful grunt, taking her with him at the last second, and he relished the feeling of her muscles contracting around him long after he was finished.

As he lay spent beneath her, she giggled. She almost sounded mad, but she was just so giddy.

"Enjoy it while you can. That second enchantment won't last much longer," Loki lazily warned. He very much enjoyed his wife's renewed vigor, and he didn't want her to be blindsided when it inevitably faded.

She nodded and used the time she had left to clean up and slip on another light shirt and skirt. Just as she emerged from their wardrobe, there was a knock at the door.

"Let it go," Loki lethargically suggested.

Myrkr smiled. "I'll get it," she said, practically skipping to answer the door.

Loki rolled his eyes, but ended up sliding out of bed and into a pair of short pants so that he could observe her.

"Oh, hello!" Myrkr happily greeted when opened the door and saw Thor waiting on the other side.

He eyed her suspiciously. "Is my brother in?" he asked, looking around her. When he saw Loki enter the sitting room to pour himself a glass of wine, he practically pushed past her as he entered the room. "What is the meaning of this? I know Myrkr hasn't been herself since the heat wave started, but Loki, you can't-" he started to lecture, but Loki's expression made him stop.

The dark-haired prince cocked an amused eyebrow. "I can't what?" he prompted.

Thor looked back over his shoulder at the woman who had just closed the door. She had a sly look on her face that seemed very familiar.

"Please, I'd like to know just what it is you think I can't do. You know how I love to do the things you say I can't," he taunted.

"Who is this woman?" Thor asked anxiously.

"You don't recognize me?" Myrkr said as she moved toward them.

Thor's features turned from suspicion to incredulity. "Myrkr?" he asked cautiously.

Her beaming smile gave her away.

"It was unkind to mislead me like that," he weakly scolded the couple.

"You were the one jumping to conclusions," Loki pointed out.

"Loki was just helping me get ready for our vacation," she said a giggle.

That was when Thor turned and really looked at her. If he had done that in the first place, he would have realized sooner who she really was. He could help staring at her sun-kissed complexion and bright green eyes. He realized he'd been staring far too long at the curves of her waist and hips when he felt the contents of his pants shift.

"I need to go," the blonde prince said with a blush and turned to leave.

Myrkr went to show him out, but she only got a couple of steps before the second enchantment faded. She gasped at the sudden onslaught of heat and humidity and stumbled forward into her brother-in-law, who was quick to catch her even if it did make his blush darken just that much more.

"What's the matter? Are you alright?" Thor asked anxiously.

Loki sighed with a mix of pity and exasperation as he swiftly stepped over to his wife and scooped her up into his arms. When she winced at the heat of his skin against hers, he changed into his Jotun form and quickly took her into the bedroom, laying her down on the bed. He then made a bubble of magic cold around her before returning to his concerned brother.

"Is she okay?" Thor pressed.

"She'll be fine," he assured. Then, he took a moment to explain how he had enchanted her appearance and physiology and that the second enchantment had run its course, making her feel especially sensitive to the heat right after she changed back.

"It's a shame you couldn't make it last longer. She seemed so much happier," Thor lamented.

Loki practically sneered. "Yes, well, then it seems she would have to worry about the predatory gazes of others."

Thor glared. "I was not being predatory. I was simply surprised. Honestly, if you had warned me that you were doing such a thing, I would not have behaved so foolishly."

The younger brother gave a dismissive hand motion. "It's better this way, better I see your honest reaction to my wife in Asgardian form. You should just be thankful it happened in private. Could you imagine how angry and embarrassed Sif would be if she saw you staring at someone else like that? Anymore you save those kinds of leering gazes for her exclusively. I think she would be hurt to know you looked at someone else that way. Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't try to kiss her again," he taunted.

Thor's expressed darkened as he closed the distance between them. He took Loki by the shoulders and shook him. "Don't you dare say such things! Don't you dare take my surprised reaction and turn it into something lecherous! Misleading me is one thing, whether you meant to or not, but I will not let you lie and besmirch my honor!" he scolded.

Loki smirked and grabbed his adopted brother's crotch. "This says I'm not lying," he asserted, looking squarely into the blonde's blue eyes.

He flinched backward. He knew he'd reacted physically to the sight of Myrkr in Asgardian form, but he hadn't realize his reaction was quite so dramatic. Anger, hurt, and embarrassment played on Thor's face. "Don't touch me like that!" he shouted.

The dark-haired man turned and grabbed his goblet, taking a long sip of wine. Once he could get his amusement in check, he turned back. "I'm sorry. That was a bit much."

Thor's expression softened. "Yes, it was, and I am also sorry. I should learn to control myself better," he managed.

Some of Loki's smirk returned. "Between the two of us, I actually find it...flattering," he said after a moment to consider the right word, "that you find my wife so attractive, and I know that you are honorable enough to not act one the feelings you sometimes have for her." When his brother breathed a sigh of relief, he said, "What did you come here for in the first place?"

"Oh, yes," he said, shaking his head to clear his thoughts a bit. "I came to wish you well on your vacation. It is much deserved and far overdue," he said happily.

Loki smiled, this time it was actually a genuine smile. "Thank you."

Thor left a few minutes later, and Loki returned to his wife's side.

"You were too harsh," she weakly scolded.

"He needs that sort of thing every once in awhile," Loki dismissed as he stripped down and climbed in next to her. Once in Jotun form, he pulled her into a comforting embrace.

"I sort of liked how he looked at me," she confessed.

Loki didn't reply to that immediately.

"Does that upset you?" she looked up at his face. He didn't appear upset, but that didn't necessarily mean he wasn't.

"No, of course not," he dismissed with a chuckle. "As you are aware, I don't generally have access to things or people that would make my brother jealous. It may seem petty to some, but it's nice to be the enviable one from time to time."

"Would you envy Thor if I had been betrothed to him, as Laufey originally bargained for?" she proposed.

"At first, no. I would have laughed at and taunted him to no end for having to marry a Jotun," he replied earnestly, then his expression took on a darker air. "But once we became acquainted and especially after I learned of what I really was, I would have stopped at nothing to seduce you. I would have used every trick at my disposal to persuade you that your time and energies were better spent on me."

Myrkr gasped and held him tightly. He had always been protective of her in his own way, and to hear him speak like that made her heart race.

Loki smiled and petted her hair, lulling her to sleep while maintaining the cocoon of coldness that was their bed so that she could rest peacefully before their journey.


	24. Crash Landing

Loki and Myrkr approached the Bifrost each with a bag in hand. They were both dressed in clothes that they considered comfortable, if strange. Actually, Myrkr appreciated the Midgardian clothes that Loki chose for them. They each wore a t-shirt and a pair of jeans, hers shorts and his pants. She thought he looked unusually comely like that. The dark denim accentuated his black hair as well as his fair skin. She also appreciated the light cotton of her shirt and wondered if she could get away with wearing similar things after they returned to Asgard. When they reached Heimdal, she stopped to have a word with him.

"Honorable Gatekeeper," she said with a curtsey.

"Lady Myrkr, Casket Bearer of Jotunheim and Princess of Asgard," he answered, barely turning his gaze down to look at her.

She recognized his response to be both a gesture of respect and acknowledgement that he didn't entirely trust her loyalties. "I never thanked you for keeping your ever vigilant gaze on us while we visited my homeworld," she said.

"No thanks is required. I simply perform my duty as dictated by the Allfather," Heimdal indifferently replied.

"Regardless, I am grateful and do appreciate what you do," she said earnestly.

He didn't answer.

"Might I ask that this time, while we are away, that you not watch us quite so closely?" she hopefully proposed.

"I see all things and watch closely what the Allfather tells me to," he vaguely answered.

"I understand that. I would never ask you to do anything less than your absolute best for the Allfather, but we are leaving Asgard to escape the watchful eyes of others, to spend some time truly alone. As long as our King does not bid you to keep watch on us, it would be appreciated if you paid only passive attention to us," she tried again.

He barely nodded.

Myrkr smiled and curtseyed again before joining Loki. She tried to hold hands with him, but was stopped.

"I advise against physical contact, unless absolutely necessary, while traveling by Bifrost," Heimdal said.

"Please direct us at the southern polar region of Midgard," Loki requested.

"You will be sent to the point least obstructed from here. I apologize in advance if this means that you must travel once you arrive on Midgard, but it is safest that way," Heimdal informed evenly.

She didn't question him, figuring that it did more for their rapport if she trusted him. They received the usual warning that he would not reopen the Bifrost if it meant risking the safety of Asgard. The couple nodded in acknowledgement, and a moment later, there was a great light before them. Myrkr watched Loki's body seem to strain and stretch forward as she felt hers do the same.

The bright light soon gave way to darkness when the sensation of energy flowing through her body was replaced by the feeling of hard ground beneath her feet. They had only been on Earth for a few seconds before something hard struck Myrkr, sending her flying backward until she landed on her back several feet away. Had she not already been in a highly weakened state, or if they had been transported to a climate more hospitable for her, rather than somewhere just as hot as the place they'd left, she might have fared better. As it was, she had the wind knocked from her, and she was barely conscious, groaning in pain as she landed.

"Shit, shit shit," a young woman with dark brown hair said as she climbed out the truck. "That was your fault!" she shouted at the woman who was exiting the driver's door with an electronic device in hand.

"What happened? What did I even hit?" the driver distractedly fretted.

"Myrkr!" Loki shouted. He had also been hit by their truck but it barely knocked him back. The dust the vehicle kicked up made it hard for him to see, and when he couldn't immediately locate his wife, he started to panic. He heard a weak groan a short distance away and rushed over to her.

"Where did they even come from?" an older man asked, mostly of himself, when he saw a dark-haired man rush over to a prone woman.

"Jane! You hit somebody!" the younger brunette scolded.

"What? That's impossible," she dismissed, but then she saw what her companion was talking about. "What are they even doing out here?" she asked, but she didn't stop what she was doing for more than a second to glance at them.

"Where did you guys come from?" the younger woman asked as she rushed over to the couple.

Loki hissed at her. "How do you justify driving your vehicle so recklessly?" he demanded as he examined his wife. Her eyes were fluttering, and she was clutching her stomach and groaning weakly.

"I wasn't driving," the younger woman scoffed.

"Jane!" the old man shouted. "This is serious. This woman needs to go to the hospital!"

"No!" Loki shouted. "You won't take her anywhere! You won't lay even a finger on her!" He even went as far as to stand and stare down the old man.

"See? She doesn't need help," the woman they kept calling Jane distractedly replied as she continued her work.

"I dunno," the younger woman hedged. "She looks pretty banged up."

Loki rushed back over to Myrkr and shoved away the woman who was hovering over her. "Get back!"

"Dude, chill out! I didn't even touch her. I was just saying that she looks like she's in pretty bad shape," she indignantly replied.

The old man tried not to be deterred by Loki's threats, grabbed a lantern and brought it over, holding it above the prone woman and the man who had just resumed carefully touching her body and moving her limbs, presumably to assess her damages.

"My name is Erik. How can we help?" he tried.

Loki ignored him. He brought his face down to Myrkr's ear. "Darling, are you alright?" he asked anxiously.

Myrkr groaned and coughed a little before answering. "It's still very hot," she complained.

Loki couldn't help laughing a little. If she had the presence of mind to make such a joke, she might not be as bad off as he thought. "Can you move?" he asked hopefully as he moved back a little.

"We were going at least fifty. It's a wonder she's still alive," the woman sitting off to the side morbidly observed.

Loki glared at her for the mere mention of such a fatality. "Lucky for you, even in her weakened state, she is stronger than that." His attention was brought back to his wife when she groaned and rolled up onto her side.

"What hit me?" Myrkr asked as she tried to sit up.

"Careful," Erik hastily advised, but he was ignored. "We really should take her to see a doctor."

Loki sneered at the old man. "I already told you that is not going to happen."

"Jane hit you with her truck because apparently we're storm chasers now," the young woman replied in an oddly perky tone, motioning to the vehicle a few feet away with the dented front end. "What are you doing out here in the middle of the night away? Are you lost or something?"

Myrkr gave a weak grin. "Something like that," she told the young woman before turning back to her husband. "I thought you said somewhere cold. This is even worse than-" she stopped herself just in time, "where we were. If it's this hot at night, there's no way I can stand the daylight sun for more than a short time," she lamented.

"I know. Apparently, this was the closest point," he reminded. "Come on," he helped her to her feet. She could stand, but not without leaning most of her weight on him.

"How much longer is night going to last?" Loki asked the young woman because she had been the most helpful so far.

"I dunno, another four, maybe five hours," she shrugged as she stood and dusted off her pants.

"And how far is the nearest shelter?" he pressed.

"We'll give you a ride," Erik offered.

"How far is the nearest shelter?" he asked again, looking directly at the young woman, this time exercising his powers of suggestion.

"Miles and miles away," the woman replied because she didn't know exactly how far from town they'd gotten.

"Could we walk there before sunrise?" Loki tried.

"I doubt it, not while carrying someone else," she reasoned.

"Then we accept your offer for transportation," he told Erik.

"Jane, come on," Erik bid her.

"But if we don't get this data now, it'll be gone by morning," Jane protested.

Loki paused to consider their options, then asked Erik, "Will she be finished before sunrise?"

"Yeah, she'll probably only take an hour or two," he answered.

Loki nodded. "Then we will wait for her. Get us some water," he ordered.

Erik didn't take well to being ordered around like that, but considering what had just happened, he decided not to argue. "Sure, this way," he led them around the back of the truck. He pulled out a couple of folding chairs and got them each a bottle of water. "I'll go help Jane so it might not take as long," he said and left them be.

"Ah," Myrkr gasped when she took it in her hands. "It's ice cold," she said with a smile and began pressing it against her skin.

During this the younger woman got out another chair and sat down. "So why are you so scared of the sun? You a vampire or something?" she joked.

Loki scoffed and Myrkr laughed. "Hardly," she replied.

"She is very sensitive to the heat," Loki answered.

"Then you shouldn't have come to New Mexico," the young woman advised.

Myrkr sighed and looked at Loki.

"It's a minor stop on our way elsewhere," he said.

The young woman shrugged. "I suppose that's fair. I'm Darcy by the way," she offhandedly introduced herself.

"My name is Myrkr," she replied.

Darcy cocked an eyebrow. "Murky?"

"Myrkr," she corrected.

"Miri?" she tried again.

Myrkr laughed. "Close enough."

"And what about you?" Darcy asked the tall, fair man sitting next to the woman still rubbing the cold water bottle on her skin.

"I am Loki," he answered, then gave her a half-expectant look. He was only mildly disappointed that his name was not recognized. It would have bruised his ego if it didn't aid their safety. "What is that other woman so interested in?" he asked as though he didn't already have a fairly good idea.

"You mean Jane?" Darcy asked. "She's an astrophysicist. Apparently there's a really strange sky light thing that happens sometimes. She thinks she can predict it, but what happened was a lot bigger than she was expecting," she vaguely explained.

"Yes, it was quite bright," Myrkr said quietly.

"I bet it was from where you were standing!" Darcy laughed.

Erik helped Jane finish gathering as much data as they could so they could get packed up and back on the road.

"Where do you want us to drop you off?" Jane asked as they started to pull into town.

Myrkr and Loki exchanged meaningful looks.

"Anywhere that we might find decent lodging," Loki said evenly.

"No offense, but you don't exactly look like you have much money," Darcy pointed out.

Loki sneered at her, but Myrkr replied before he could snap at her. "None taken, but we are more self-sufficient than we seem," she replied.

"Are you sure?" Erik asked cautiously.

"Quite," Loki curtly replied.

They dropped off the couple at a moderately priced motel and went back to start analyzing their data. Loki used his powers of suggestion to convince the manager of the motel that they didn't need to pay for their room or any of the amenities they might use while they were there. As soon as they got to their room, Myrkr took an ice cold bath while Loki tried to get a hang of the various things around the room. The lights were easy enough, and the television was unbelievably irritating. When he figured out how to use the air conditioner, he felt especially pleased with himself. He turned it up as high as he could on the coldest setting and made sure to lock the door and pull the blinds. The ease with which he was able to cool their small room was almost enough to make up for the poor quality of the bed.

When Myrkr limped out of the bathroom a short time later, the rest of their room was significantly colder. It made her smile. The sight of her naked husband laying in the middle of their rented bed made her smile widen.

"Better?" he asked knowingly as she practically jumped on top of him. She would have actually jumped if she still didn't feel some of the effects of her earlier injury.

"Much," she replied happily.

"I can tell you're feeling much better," he noted, rolling them over until she was beneath him. Then, he took a few seconds to dismiss the enchantment on her appearance.

Even though he'd told her that she shouldn't feel any different with only her appearance changed, Myrkr could swear that when she changed back, it was like a veil being lifted from her entire body. It was like she could take a full breath again or see a sharpness to things that had previously been obscured. Either way, she tried to wrap her arms around her husband's neck to draw him in for a slow, affectionate kiss and was highly disappointed when he stopped her.

"What's the matter?" she asked, feeling a bit put off by the way he kept her arms from wrapping around him.

"Lay back," he requested in a soft voice.

"I am laying back," she replied impatiently.

He gave her an equally impatient look and took a few seconds to lay her arms and legs down flat on the bed.

"Why don't you want me to touch you?" she nearly fretted.

"After the trip we just had, I would love nothing more," he answered, gently stroking her cheek with the back of his hand, "but my mind won't rest easy until I take a few moments to examine you properly. That vehicle hit you fairly hard, and you were only able to walk with my help."

Myrkr frowned. Since they had been together, she had never needed medical attention. Loki occasionally joked that she was even sturdier than he was, but they both knew that being exposed to such high temperatures for so long sapped her strength, weakened her constitution, and generally made her recover from any sort of trauma much more slowly.

Loki frowned as well as his gaze moved lower. There was some fairly distinct bruising across her chest, and if the way she winced when he touched her sides was any indication, her ribs were badly bruised.

"Well?" she asked impatiently. She didn't like the look on his face.

"You're lucky. It seems nothing's broken," he told her seriously. "Stupid Heimdal," he cursed under his breath. "He knew he was sending us somewhere unpleasant."

"It doesn't matter now. I'll heal up in no time, and we can be on our way," she assured. "In a way, it was lucky that they hit me. If we had landed in the middle of that dessert with no one else around, you would have ended up carrying me into this town because there's no way I would have been able to travel that distance on foot with as hot as it is," she reasoned.

"It should have been me," he grumbled.

"If they had hit you, I'm not sure their vehicle would have survived," she half-joked.

"If we had been dropped into a more preferable climate, it wouldn't have been an issue," he reminded.

Myrkr rolled her eyes and beckoned him to lay with her. It was apparent that he needed comfort just as much as she did. As they lay cuddling, he cast whatever healing spells he could remember. Such magics had never been his forte, but he would have been remiss if he had ignored that school of magic entirely. He laughed a little to himself when he realized that it felt strange to cast them on someone else. More often than not, he only used those spells on himself, ordering others to the healing room if they were injured.

This was part of why he was so anxious in casting them. Since he wasn't the subject, it was difficult to tell exactly how well they were working. He tried to take confidence in his wife's increasingly restful state as she lay beside him and hoped that she would be at least more mobile in the morning.

Morning came all too soon and with it a knock on their door. They ignored it at first, but the urgent insistence of the knocker made Loki get up to see who it was. He groaned when he saw the trio from the night before standing on the other side of his door.

"Did we forget something in your vehicle last night?" he tartly inquired when he opened the door a crack to speak to them.

"I'd like to speak with you about what happened last night," Jane said.

"I'd rather not," Loki replied and almost slammed the door.

"You were the only other people who saw that astral event, and it would mean a lot to my research if we could at least talk about it," she said.

Loki could tell she wasn't being entirely honest, but before he could call her out for it, Darcy said, "We'll buy you breakfast."

"Darcy!" Jane scolded.

"What? I'm hungry, and he looks like a guy who takes well to a bribe," she reasoned offhandedly.

Loki smirked.

"I'm hungry too," Myrkr called from the bed.

Loki rolled his eyes. "One moment," he told the people in the hall before closing the door and going to speak with his wife. "I realize that these people seem harmless, but what they saw cannot yet be explained by their science," he told her seriously. "If they are clever enough to figure out even part of what happened, we could face further delays in our vacation," he warned. He didn't really think that indulging the curiosity of a few humans would be harmful to them personally, but it certainly would be inconvenient.

"Just for breakfast? It sort of helps make up for nearly running me over, and I don't really feel comfortable stealing food from honest people," Myrkr reasoned.

Loki considered their options for a minute before pulling out the menu for the restaurant connected to their motel. He jotted down a list of things they would like to eat and returned to the door. Again, he didn't open it any further than necessary. "Bring us these things, then we will speak to you," he told them, handing the list to Jane.

"This is a lot of food for two people," Jane hesitantly protested.

"We are very hungry," he told her. "And rather picky. Make sure it is all correct before you return," he said, then closed the door.

Jane, Darcy, and Erik returned an hour later with a cart full of food. While they were gone, Loki took the liberty of re-enchanting his wife's appearance and urging her to put on some clothes. Since he changed back to Asgardian form, he had long pants and sleeves on to stave off the chill generated by their air conditioner.

"Brrr!" Darcy said, wrapping her arms around herself as they entered the motel room. "You really do like the cold, don't you?" she said when she saw the woman with long black hair half reclined near the top of the bed in the middle of the room.

Loki took a seat at the small table next to the bed and gave their guests an expectant look. Jane rolled her eyes and rolled the cart up between the table and the bed.

"I think that's everything. If it's not, then they didn't have it," she told them.

Myrkr smiled. "Thank you so much," she said earnestly as she scooted over to the edge of the bed to start eating. Loki took a plate, filled it up and did the same.

While Jane and Erik took a seat on the small sofa across the room, Darcy wrapped herself in one of the complimentary bathrobes and perched on the edge of the bed.

Myrkr took pity on her and took a moment to wrap the young woman in one of the discarded blankets.

"You're getting around a lot better," Darcy noted as she happily accepted the blanket.

"I bounce back pretty quickly," Myrkr answered with an awkward little smile, then turned to Jane. "You wanted to talk to us?"

"I wanted to ask you about the astral event from last night, since you were the only others there when it happened," Jane began.

Loki nodded. "I will answer what I can."

"What did you see during the event?" Jane asked.

The couple described a bright light among dark clouds and high winds. Their description was vague and obviously didn't satisfy the scientists.

"Anything else?" she pressed.

"What sort of information are you hoping to get from us? If your questions were more specific, we might be able to give you better answers," Loki chided.

Jane gave him a challenging look as she reached into her backpack. She pulled out a file folder containing several pictures. The one she handed to him was a satellite image taken from above the event in question. Even the untrained eye could see the two humanoid shaped dark spots in the clouds. "Is that you?" she asked bluntly.

Loki looked over the photo and showed it to his wife. "I thought aeromancy was an outdated practice," he jibed.

"I'm not looking to predict the future from reading the clouds," Jane snapped. "I am a scientist!"

"Jane, calm down. He's obviously trying to get a rise out of you," Erik eased. "You should expect that kind of thing from someone who calls himself Loki."

Loki cocked a curious eyebrow, but didn't bother asserting that that was his actual name. "What do you know of Loki?" he asked the old man.

Erik gave a self-conscious chuckle. "I grew up hearing the Norse myths. Loki's the tricker, the god of lies and mischief. It's not a name that most people around here would recognize. It's also not one that someone would take without thinking about the implications first," he answered.

Myrkr giggled. "It seems your reputation precedes you," she teased.

"Now, now, darling, it's not nice to tease," he dismissed lightly before turning back to Jane. "So, are you asking if we were actually up in those clouds during that astral event of yours?" he asked.

"I'm aware of how strange it sounds, but given the circumstances, I can't help asking. You two appeared out of nowhere and the data I've collected so far suggests that the event in question might actually be an Einstein-Rosen Bridge," she replied as evenly as she could.

"A bridge you say?" Loki said. He was actually rather impressed with this woman now.

"A wormhole, more colloquially," Erik interjected.

"This is fascinating. A bridge to what, exactly?" Loki pressed as he handed back the photo he'd been given.

"Another part of the universe," she answered as surely as she could. When she saw disbelief on the faces of the two strangers, she pulled out two more photographs. "This is a picture of the night sky over where we found you. Those are the stars that anyone can see on any given night," she said as she handed the first one to Loki. "This," she said as she handed the other to him, "is a picture of the sky taken at about the time we found you."

Loki studied the images. "They are quite different. Are you sure your equipment was pointed at the same piece of sky?"

"It's not my equipment, but yes. Those pictures were taken within minutes of one another and the telescope that took them did not move. I checked. I double checked," she asserted.

"This is all very interesting," he noted, handing the photos back to her.

There was a tense silence. Jane was growing frustrated with how difficult he was being. Erik's exasperation with the situation was growing, and Darcy was getting bored.

"She wants to know if you're aliens," Darcy finally said.

The couple laughed.

"Look, we've told you everything that we can. I'm sorry we cannot be of further assistance, and thank you for the lovely breakfast," Loki said as he stood. "I wish you all the best in your future endeavours," he continued as he corralled them toward the door.

Once they were standing out in the hall, Jane gave a grumble of frustration. Her conclusions seemed outlandish, even crazy, but at the same time, right somehow. "They're not telling us something," Jane told Erik, who gave a weak shrug in response.

While they were debating what to do next, Darcy pressed her ear against the door. On the other side, she heard the woman say, "They know."

"They have theories, very weak theories," the man dismissed.

"They are clever, at least one of them is, and persistent. We should leave as soon as we can," she said.

"In that, you are right. I have no desire to stay in this pit any longer than necessary. I will look into finding transportation for us," he said.

"It's a shame we have to resort to using the local means of transportation," the woman lamented.

"It seems we've already drawn enough attention to ourselves. Perhaps once we are out of this place, we can utilize more efficient means of travel," he said.

Darcy reached for the doorknob.

"What are you doing?" Erik scolded.

"Jane's right. They know something," Darcy said in a loud whisper.

"Well, barging in on them again isn't going to get you any more information than we already have," Jane lectured. "Come on. Let's head back and see if we didn't miss something."


	25. A Mid-Morning Abduction

After they left, Loki finished his breakfast and set out to find a reasonable means of travel for them. He didn't like the idea of leaving Myrkr in the motel room alone, but he knew she would be more comfortable there with the blasting air conditioner than trolling around the desert heat with him for an undetermined amount of time.

Before leaving, he stressed several times the importance of staying where she was and waiting for him. She just smiled and agreed every time. It wasn't like him to worry like that, but she knew it was a result of being in such a strange place, and there was no way she was going to belittle his concern, even if she did think he was being a bit extreme.

With a kiss passionate enough to have him leave with a blush, she let him go and locked the door behind him.

About an hour later, there was a knock on the door. Myrkr nearly jumped out of her skin before she remembered that it was customary for workers to come check the rented rooms of the motel once a day. She stood and looked at herself in the mirror. She still appeared human, so she ran her fingers through her hair a few times before opening the door.

As soon as she did, she cursed herself for not check the peephole first because standing in front of her was not some middle aged woman with a cart full of cleaning supplies, as she had expected. Rather, it was three men in black suits. She tried to close the door in their faces, but the one in front put his foot out at the last second to keep it from latching.

"W-Who are you?" she asked anxiously.

"Good day, Miss. I'm Agent Culson, and I would like to have a word with you," the man in front greeted.

Agent was not a title she was familiar with, but they still did not appear very friendly in spite of the slight smile the one speaking to her wore. "I'd rather not," she said, peeking through the crack in the door.

"It's very important," he insisted.

"What do you want?" she asked, her anxiety level increasing. She desperately wished Loki was with her. He knew how to handle humans.

"You were part of a very unusual phenomenon last night," he said.

"No, I wasn't. You're mistaken," she said, trying to push the door closed, but to no avail.

"This will be easier if you cooperate. We're not here to cause you any trouble, but we do need to talk with you," he insisted.

"No, I don't know anything. Leave me alone," she said, continuing to push on the door.

"I regret that we are authorized to use force in the event that you are not cooperative," he said, nodding back to the larger men standing behind him. It took a surprising amount of effort for them to push the door open wide enough to enter.

"Go away!" Myrkr shouted as she retreated to the other side of the room.

"Miss, you are overreacting," Culson advised. "If you would just calm down," he tried.

She shook her head, her eyes wide with fear and he nose twitched a couple times. She could tell they weren't being genuine. She had been with Loki long enough to be able to know a lie when she heard it, and she still had enough of her Jotun senses about her to be able to detect the signs of their dishonesty.

Culson sighed. "It's quite chilly in here. Is your air conditioner broken?" he said, casually making his way over to the machine working hard just below the window.

"Don't touch that! Get away from there! Get out!" she yelled. "You have no right to be here," she insisted as she backed away from him.

"Actually, I have authorization to go just about anywhere I need to," he dismissed matter-of-factly. There was no arrogance in his voice, which in itself was actually quite unnerving. "But if you'd prefer I not bother with the air conditioner, that is your prerogative."

"Go away, please," she pleaded.

"Why don't you have a seat, and we can talk about what happened last night?" Culson proposed, motioning to one of the chairs by the bed.

"No, I'm not talking to you about anything. Why won't you just go?" she desperately replied. She felt trapped, and it was starting to show in the ice crystals starting to form on the surfaces of just about everything in the small motel room.

"Did you feel that?" Culson casually asked the other two men, taking a moment to watch his breath form little clouds in front of his face. "It must have dropped twenty degrees in just a few seconds," he marveled, looking back at the wide-eyed woman standing a few feet away. "That's quite a talent."

She shook her head. "I don't want to hurt you," she said in a low, shaky voice.

Culson smiled. "That's good. We don't want to hurt you either."

"Then please leave," she pleaded.

"Where's that man you were with?" Culson asked curiously.

"He's none of your concern," she insisted.

"You're not being very cooperative," he lamented as he returned to the air conditioner. As he turned it off, he said, "I think perhaps we should take this conversation elsewhere." Then, he opened the window, letting some of the outside heat into the room.

"Leave that alone! Stop it!" she nearly screamed. "And if you so much as lay a hand on me, you will deeply regret it!"

Culson chuckled a little. "You're quite good. It's still getting colder. I was sent here to talk to you about the anomaly that you were part of last night, but I'm actually becoming more interested in this temperature control of yours. Is it just cold or do you do heat as well? If that's the case, I can understand why you would pick cold, less collateral damage that way. Does your companion have similar abilities?" he questioned curiously.

Myrkr screamed in frustration and prepared to blast them with every bit of cold she could manage, but before she got the chance to do more than cover them in a dusting of frost, she blacked out. Culson barely caught her before she hit her head on the end table.

He had one of the men with him scoop her up into his arms while the other gathered up the things around the room that didn't belong to the motel. As an afterthought, he left a tip on the table. While they got her and her things loaded up, he paid for the room.

When Myrkr came to, she was laying on a thin mat in a small room. The floor, ceiling, and bottom half of the walls of the room were back. The top half of the walls appeared to be a reflective glass. There was one door and a table and two chairs had been pushed across the room to make room for her sleeping mat.

She slowly sat up and tried to adjust to her surroundings. Taking a deep breath, she touched the wall to steady herself. It was cold metal. That made her realize that the room she was in was rather cold. It wasn't as cold as she would prefer, but it definitely wasn't hot.

"H-Hello?" she hesitantly asked. There was no immediate answer. "Anyone?" she tried again. Still nothing. Slowly she stood and began to pace around the room. When being alone like that was starting to get to her, she started speaking again, hoping that someone could hear her. "I'm really sorry that I acted out earlier. I was scared. I've never been in a situation like that before, and I didn't know what to do." She was just about to start yelling and trying to fight her way out of the room when the man from earlier entered.

"I'm sorry we didn't have more comfortable quarters for you," he said. "Mind helping me with the table and chairs?"

She gave him an odd look but did as he asked.

"You aren't quite what you seem, are you?" he asked as they sat down across from each other.

Myrkr paled a bit but didn't say anything.

"You were quite talkative a minute ago," he lamented. "Look, I realize that we've given you no reason to trust us, but for what it's worth, I promise that as long as you don't hurt anyone, no harm will come to you. We're in the information business, and it's been my experience that hurting and threatening people doesn't usually yield the best results.

She gave him a wary look, but she had a hard time not believing him.

"So, let's try this again. What's your name?" he tried.

"Myrkr," she reluctantly answered.

"Myrkr, you're not from around here, are you?" he mused.

"I'm not from a lot of places," she muttered.

"That's a start," he commented. "But you're really a long way from home, aren't you?"

She barely nodded.

"Where did you come from?" he asked curiously

His genuine interest in her made her trust him just a little more. "We came from Asgard."

Culson nodded. "Is that sort of transportation technology common there?"

She shrugged. "I've only seen the one device that does it, but it's not like a big secret or anything."

He nodded again. "And why did you come here to Earth? From what I can tell, you're very much out of your element."

Myrkr scoffed. "We're on holiday. We just wanted somewhere quiet to be alone for a while. He said that there are vast cold regions on this planet where almost no one lives. We hadn't intended to land in the desert."

"So you came to Earth willingly, and you have the means to make a return trip," he verified.

She nodded.

Culson smiled a bit. "Well, tell you what. When this is over, I'll see about getting you dropped off somewhere colder, okay?" he offered.

Her heart skipped a beat at the idea, but she knew better than to trust a promise made so easily from someone she didn't know.

"That's some disguise you've got there. You really do look human. I'm not sure if you're aware, but there are some people on this planet with abilities like yours," he informed.

"I didn't know that," she replied quietly. "What gave me away?"

He smirked. "We took a hair sample."

She didn't like the sound of that.

"How are you keeping that appearance anyway?" he asked curiously.

"Someone else did it for me," she vaguely replied.

"Was it that man you're traveling with?" he pressed.

Myrkr frowned.

"He told the scientists that you met that his name is Loki," he tried.

She nodded.

He cocked an eyebrow. "If you were looking for fake names, you could have picked something more modern," he teased.

Myrkr frowned. "I'm not giving you fake names," she indignantly insisted.

He gave her a placating look. "Asgard and Loki are straight out of Norse mythology, though I'm not familiar with Myrkr. What myth are you from?"

She glared at him. "I am no myth," she asserted. "And it's not my fault that Loki and others from Asgard have been to Earth before. They said they pretty much stopped coming once you all stopped being nice to visitors," she sniped.

Her conviction made him believe her. "So, where is Loki now? We would like to speak with him as well."

Myrkr frowned. "He went to secure transport for us. Because of the unbearable heat, I didn't go with him. I don't know exactly where he is, just that he's going to be very upset when he comes back to that room and I'm not there," she said.

"Is that a threat?" Culson asked.

She tried not to smirk. "No, just a fact. We've never been in a situation quite like this, so I can't say for sure what he'll do," she half-lied. She had a fair idea what sort of actions he would take in that situation. "He might even be in this room waiting for you to finish speaking to me," he theorized, though she knew that wasn't the case.

"You're lying," he dismissed. "You're desperate. I get that. You're trying whatever you can to assert some kind of control over your situation, but we're several thousand feet in the air. I doubt your friend could sneak up here without anyone knowing."

"Is there anything else you'd like to talk about?" she asked impatiently.

Culson stood. "Not at the moment." He started to leave, then looked back at her. She looked frustrated and forlorn. "Are you hungry?" he asked.

Myrkr rolled her eyes. "Yes, but I doubt you have anything I would like," she muttered.

Culson nodded and left. A few minutes later, a lower ranking SHIELD agent came to talk to her about what she would like to eat. This person didn't seem to have much a real interest in her, but it was their job to find her something suitable to sustain her during her stay with them. While they worked on that, she was taken on a very brief tour of the helicarrier and asked to wait in one of the more comfortable rooms with a window overlooking the vast desert beneath them.

She leaned against the window with a sigh. She had never felt so lost or disconnected in her life and spent most of her time in that room cursing herself for not being able to handle the Asgardian heatwave better. She mentally berated herself for complaining so much about something she had no control over. If she had handled herself even just a little better, Loki wouldn't have felt compelled to take her somewhere else. If she hadn't been such a coward, they could have just gone to Jotunheim. At least she knew some of the people there and how to react to them when they confronted her. At least there she wasn't an alien.

They did eventually find something that she didn't mind eating. By that time she'd lost her appetite, but she ate it anyway since it seemed as though they had gone through quite a bit of trouble to accommodate her.

A couple hours later, she noticed that the staff of the helicarrier were suddenly moving very quickly. There was a light flashing in the corridor, but when she managed to pull one of them aside, she was asked to stay where she was and given no further information. It was so frustrating that when things didn't immediately settle down, she left the room in search of answers, likewise ignoring anyone who asked what she was doing.

It didn't take her long to find the bridge, where most of the activity seemed to be centered, but she hesitated at the threshold. Even from there, though, she could see out the large windows. There might have been something below them, but at their height, it was hard for her to tell.

"Myrkr," a dark man in a long, black coat said. He was standing a the high point of the room, an easily identifiable position of power where he could oversee those around him.

She started at the sound of her own name. "Hello," she managed as firmly as she could.

"Come here," he bid her, taking a step to the side to make room for her next to him.

She was about to ask what for, but as soon as she got close, she could see her husband on the monitor in front of him. "Loki," she gasped, her eyes darting between the ominous man to her right and the image on the screen.

"So that is your friend. It seems he's been looking for you," the dark man mused.

She gave him a look that said she was not surprised by that fact.

"He's starting to make threats," he informed.

"Take me down there. If you let me go, he won't do anything rash," she advised.

"I've already send someone down to negotiate with him," he replied.

Myrkr glared at him. "You're in charge of all this, right?" she presumed

"I am SHIELD Director Fury," he replied.

That didn't exactly answer her question, but the way he said it assured her enough. "Alright, SHIELD Director Fury, why are you holding me against my will?"

"Your will is of little concern. It is our duty to gather information and investigate the kinds of security threats that average government agencies are not equipped to deal with. A pair of extraterrestrials with undetermined intentions falls into our jurisdiction," he informed.

Her glare didn't lessen. "You are all very rude and very intrusive."

"It's not like either of you have been very upfront about your intentions," he replied.

"So, what's your plan? Agent Culson said something about helping us get where we were going. I suppose that was just a lie to get me to cooperate?" she bitterly theorized.

"Did you really believe him?" Fury countered.

She sighed. "No, but I wanted to."

"As long as your friend doesn't do anything stupid, we should be able to work something out. As I said, our primary priorities are intelligence and security. As long as neither of you threatens our security, then we can potentially exchange information for transportation," Fury told her seriously.

"I've already given you more information that I intended to," she muttered.

"Lucky for you, your friend seems to be quite a bit more talkative," he replied. He knew they were more than friends, but it seemed pointless to make a big deal about the exact nature of their relationship when there were more important things he needed to worry about.

She gave him a critical look for a moment. "You haven't just been watching us, have you? You've been observing those three humans who keep harrassing us too," she accused.

Fury widened the view on the screen in front of them. "Those three?" he asked knowingly.

Myrkr rolled her eyes.

"I'm fairly certain that they are your friend's hostages now," he told her.

"Desperate men do desperate things. It's not in his nature to be cruel, but people do things they normally wouldn't when the ones they care about are in danger," she replied flatly.

"Are you in danger? Do you really feel endangered?" he asked her, a forceful edge cutting into his tone. "In case you haven't noticed, we've gone out of our way to make sure you're comfortable."

"A gilded cage is still a cage. You took me against my will and refuse to let me go," she reminded.

"I don't know if you realize this, but you're lucky it was us that found you. There are many other less scrupulous people who would not have been as considerate." When she paled a bit, he continued. "There are those who would use extreme measures to find out who you are and where you're from. It's common practice for more ignorant individuals to experiment on and dissect aliens, so excuse me for not being more sympathetic to your situation," he tartly replied.

Suddenly, Myrkr felt guilty and even a little grateful for their unusual situation. "Well...thank you for not doing any of those things, I guess," she muttered.

Fury didn't really hear her, he was busy watching the screen because a small fleet of black cars had pulled up near the truck parked in the middle of the desert.


	26. An Unlikely Friendship

Just as Jane, Erik, and Darcy got back from their visit with the strange couple, they saw they weren't alone. There was a small fleet of nondescript black cars and fans and countless men and women in black suits systematically taking everything of value from inside and packing it into the vans. Less than ten minutes later one of the suited men was handing Jane a check and wishing her a good day.

They were devastated. Every piece of work they'd done, as well as a number of other things, had been confiscated, and they sat on the roof lamenting the loss.

"There has to be something we can do, some way of getting everything back," Jane insisted.

"I dunno, Jane," Erik hedged. "I've heard of those SHIELD guys before, they don't tend to back peddle once they've got something. From what I understand, we're lucky they only took the equipment," he added anxiously.

While Darcy continued to complain about the loss of her iPod, Jane and Erik discussed their options. Erik offered to go down to the public library to email some of his old colleagues while Jane decided she would go back to the motel and pay their new acquaintances another visit. Perhaps she could elicit some sympathy from the couple, compelling them to reveal more about their situation.

Unfortunately, when she and Darcy knocked on the door, no one answered. They went to the front desk to ask about the couple. Perhaps someone had seen them leave or knew if they checked out. In that, they were left wanting as well because no one had the slightest idea who they were talking about.

"They had to have used fake names or something. People don't just disappear," Jane complained.

"Maybe that guy really was Loki," Darcy teased. "The god of lies is making mischief with your work."

"That's not funny!" Jane scolded.

Frustrated, they went back to the old cafe that had been their base of operations for their research.

"That's weird," Darcy noted as they approached to find the front door wide open.

They only need to take a few steps inside to see what had happened. Jane gasped at the sight of the man they had been looking for holding their older colleague up against the wall by his shirt collar with one hand.

"Where is she?" Loki demanded.

"I don't know. I swear," Erik weakly replied.

"Put him down!" Jane demanded without thinking.

Loki's head whipped around to look over his shoulder at the two women who had just entered. He sneered at them and made a pushing motion with his free hand. Jane and Darcy felt themselves pushed backward by an invisible force that knocked them off their feet.

"What the hell was that?" Darcy gasped.

"I'm only going to ask you one more time," Loki said in a low, dangerous voice. "Where is she?"

"Who are you looking for?" Jane tried as she made her way to her feet.

"Like you don't know," he hissed as he dropped the older man.

Jane felt frozen in place as she watched the strange dark-haired man quickly close the distance between them. "That woman that you were with," she said as steadily as she could.

"Your wife, right?" Darcy interjected as she too managed to stand.

Jane gave an incredulous look over her shoulder at her young friend.

"What? They were wearing matching rings," she shrugged.

"Enough of this!" Loki shouted. "Tell me where she is, or I will kill you all," he threatened.

"We don't know where she is," Jane asserted. "We had just been looking for you. We went to the motel, but no one even remembered you were there. We thought you'd skipped town already."

Loki searched her eyes and was even more angry when he determined she was telling the truth. "Damn it!" he cursed loudly, bringing his fists down on the nearest table, making it collapse.

"What about those SHIELD guys?" Darcy tried. "They took all our stuff after we saw that bridge thing. Maybe they took her too thinking she knew something about it."

Loki suddenly felt sick to his stomach. "What is SHIELD?"

Erik took a moment to explain what he knew of the nature of the secret government intelligence agency in charge of managing unusual, sometimes even paranormal, incidents.

"Where can I find them?" he asked anxiously.

"They're a big secret. I wouldn't even know where to start looking for them," Erik shrugged helplessly. "I was just trying to contact some of my associates that have had dealings with them in the past, but it's unlikely that they would be able to give that kind of information."

Loki started pacing around the room. "I have to find her," he muttered. "There's no telling what they'll do to her."

"So you guys really are aliens then?" Darcy tried.

Loki scowled at her and then rolled his eyes. "I suppose it doesn't hurt anything to tell you now. Yes, we are both from other worlds."

"Why come here then?" the young woman asked.

"We were trying to have a holiday together, but things have not been going as planned," he grumbled.

"Why would you have a holiday here?" she scoffed.

"Actually, that's a really good question," Jane interjected. "If you have access to interstellar travel, why come to Earth? Your friend-"

Darcy interrupted her. "Wife," she corrected.

Jane looked at Loki, who gave a slight nod in approval of the title. "Your _wife_ didn't seem very comfortable in our climate," she observed.

"This world has a vast range of climates. It was not our intention to arrive in one of the less hospitable ones," he replied irritably.

At that, Jane launched into a series of questions related to her work and the astral event from the night before, but Loki shut her down.

"I'm sure your work is quite fascinating, at least to you, but I have more pressing matters," he arrogantly replied. "Take me back to the place where you found me," he ordered. In his time looking for a reasonable vehicle, he had just found one that might suit their needs when he had a very bad feeling. Without thinking, he'd rushed back to the motel to find their room empty. He'd spent the rest of his time on foot tracking down Jane and the others so that he could confront them.

"What for?" Jane scoffed.

"Sometimes to move forward, one must first move back. I have no leads to follow that would get me closer to my wife, so I am going back to where I started," he reasoned.

"You're going to try to lure them out to you," Erik surmised. "I'm not sure that's wise."

Loki scoffed. "I don't think it's wise for backward little creatures like yourselves to be dabbling in astral phenomenon, but I don't presume to lecture you about it."

"I'll take you back there, if you tell me what really happened last night and where you're really from," Jane bargained.

Loki smirked at her. "I think that's a reasonable arrangement. Let's go," he said, immediately going out to their truck and assuming the front passenger seat.

After a quick stop at the gas station, they were on their way. As they drove, Loki answered their questions.

"Where are you really from?" Jane asked from the seat behind Loki. Normally, she would drive, but she wanted to be able to write down as much as she could while she had the chance.

"Asgard," he answered.

"You've very interested in Norse mythology," Erik said in an attempt to discredit their newest companion.

Loki scoffed. "People often give the label of 'mythology' to things they cannot explain or understand. My people have been coming to this world since its infancy. Some time ago, my brother took a fancy for impressing primitive cultures. Since you all started actually venturing to the stars, we've taken a lower profile approach. I'm actually a little impressed that you could predict the connection of the Bifrost," he mused.

"Bifrost," Jane interjected. "Is that your name for the bridge between our worlds?"

"We use it to travel to many different worlds," he arrogantly replied.

"Where's Miri from?" Darcy asked curiously.

Loki rolled his eyes at the mispronunciation but didn't bother wasting his energy trying to correct her. Actually, he found her quite clever for being able to infer certain things about them. "My wife is from another place, one that has much closer ties to Asgard, called Jotunheim," he replied.

"The land of giants," Erik clarified.

"Giants?" Darcy questioned. "She seemed pretty small to be a giant."

"She is small for her species," Loki dismissed.

"If I remember my myths correctly, Asgardians and Jotuns don't get along, let alone marry," Erik said.

"Not that it is of any consequence to you, but our marriage is a political alliance, so not only does having her kidnapped make me very angry, such an act has the capacity to start a war," he warned.

Erik still didn't really believe what he was hearing, but he couldn't help pressing the gas pedal just a little harder.

Over the next few miles, Loki explained that where he came from magic and science were one in the same as well as some of the details of how the Bifrost functioned. All the while, he could hear Jane writing as fast as she could. Because she was so interested and seemed especially clever, he took the liberty of making a rough sketch of the Yggdrasil for her, which she seemed to greatly appreciate.

"We're almost there," Erik announced after checking their GPS.

"I know you said you don't know very much about the people who might have taken Myrkr," Loki said to the old man, "but tell me, how do humans treat people from other worlds in this day and age."

Erik couldn't make himself look at the man in the passenger seat. Even if he did have a hard time believing the man's story, the thoughts that question evoked were not pleasant. "It's hard to say. If she's cooperative and non-hostile, she should be alright."

"She seemed even tempered enough," Jane reasoned. "I don't see any reason why they would do anything extreme as long as she was willing to talk to them."

Loki looked to Darcy for her opinion on the matter. Her expression was not reassuring.

"I don't know what movies you guy have been watching, but from what I've seen, operations like that aren't exactly diplomatic," she said with a wince.

"Those are just movies," Jane dismissed, though she had been thinking the same thing.

Loki closed his eyes and pursed his lips. He was very much regretting ever leaving Asgard. All he wanted was to make Myrkr a little happier, a little more comfortable, if only for a short time. He just wanted to spend some time alone with her. Now he had no idea where she was or who she was with. He cursed Earth and everyone on it while trying to think of a way for him to get his wife back as quickly and easily as possible.

When they pulled up, there was nothing. Even the intricate circle where the couple had landed had blown away.

"It seems I'll have to get their attention," Loki wryly mused as he got out of the truck.

Erik stepped up beside him. "If I remember my stories correctly, isn't there an all seeing gatekeeper that you could ask for help? Surely someone like that could locate your wife," he tried.

Loki grumbled. "Heimdall doesn't care much for either of us and his ultimate goal is the safety of Asgard. He would not risk opening the Bifrost at a time like this."

"Why doesn't he like you?" Darcy interjected." And if you really are as important as you say, what choice would he have?"

"Two people, no matter their rank, are not as important as an entire realm," Loki retorted.

"What's your plan?" Jane asked hopefully.

"The first step of my plan is to tell you three to go away. You've done quite enough for one day," he told them.

Jane frowned. "I'm not sure you realize this, but I've got nothing left to lose. If there's even a chance I can reclaim or rebuild some of the research I've done, I'm going to take it," she asserted.

"Frankly, I don't care the slightest bit about your life's work. You've been mildly helpful and an inconvenient pain in the ass in equal parts to me. You best quit now while I consider it remotely even," he glowered.

"You can't make us leave," she asserted.

"And what if they don't come?" Darcy interjected. "Then you'll be stuck out here."

Loki's eyes narrowed as he examined the three humans standing before him.

"Maybe we should just go," Erik suggested. "I've had enough excitement."

"At least one of you has some sense," Loki sniped and turned away. He was done wasting his time and energy on arguing with inconsequential people. After several minutes of pacing around where the circle in the dust had been, he looked up to see the three humans hanging around their truck watching him. He gave them a meaningful look, but said nothing.

He was just about to review the list of spells he knew that had the greatest chance of getting the attention of a giant omni-present, faceless organization when he felt something prickling on the peripheral of his senses. Squinting, he looked up at the wide open blue sky. He couldn't see anything, but he could tell there was something there. He could always tell when he was being watched.

At the risk of looking crazy, because he really didn't care what the three watching him from the ground thought of him, he tilted his head back and screamed, "Give her back now!"

"Uh-oh," Darcy said quietly. "I think he's finally lost it."

"I know you're up there! I know you have her! Return her now, and I will not act against you!" he promised. When there was still no answer, he continued, "If you do not respond to me in ten minutes, I will take the lives of these three," he motioned to the three humans standing by the truck, "as the beginning of my recompense." Then he sat down.

"Don't you dare threaten us!" Jane said, storming up to the now seated man. She tried not to be intimidated by the fact that he was still almost as tall as her.

"You are of no consequence to me unless you can help me assure the safe return of my wife," Loki told her seriously. "And since you didn't see fit to leave when I gave you the opportunity, you are now a resource for me to use as I see fit."

Jane nearly slapped him. Instead, she turned on heel and stormed back to the truck. "We're leaving right now!" she announced as she climbed in the driver's seat.

"It's about time," Darcy muttered.

Just as she was about to turn the key in the ignition, Jane looked up at the strange man sitting in the middle of the desert. She wanted to feel sorry for him, but it was hard to when he threatened them like that. He smiled and waved at her. With a sigh, she turned the key, but nothing happened. She tried again, but still nothing. With a scream of frustration, she got back out of the truck.

"What did you do to my truck!" she demanded.

Loki smirked up at her. "Perhaps if you really are clever, you could fix it before I have to-" he began but then something hit him in the chest and made a tingle run through his body. He looked at the two little pieces of metal attached to him and followed the coils back to the device in Darcy's hand. "Petty little tricks won't work on me." he told her. "I am a god!" he asserted as he grabbed the coils and yanked to one side, effectively dislodging the components attached to him as well as pulling the rest of the device from the young woman's hand. With an indignant growl, he tossed it aside.

The trio stood stunned.

"Did you just taser him?" Jane asked Darcy in a quiet voice.

"I tried to," she muttered, obviously irritated that it didn't do more than seem to annoy the man. "Maybe it's defective."

"It's not defective," Erik assured after going over to examine the discarded taser.

"This is insane," Jane complained as she stormed back to the truck in the hope of finding anything that might help them.

Erik opened the hood of the truck to see if he could find what had been done to it to prevent it from even trying to start, while Darcy grabbed a couple bottles of water.

"Sorry I tried to taser you," she told Loki as she handed him a bottle of water.

Loki actually laughed at that. "If my brother wasn't the God of Thunder, it might have been more effective," he told her as he accepted the offering.

"And I'm sorry they took your wife," she said as she sat down with him.

"Not as sorry as they will be if I don't see her again very soon," he vowed.

"If there's anything I can do," she began. "Well, anything that doesn't involve threatening people. I'm not very good at that," she amended.

Loki didn't reply to that other than to nod in approval.

"Actually, I'm not very good at a lot of things. That's why I'm with Jane and Erik. Er, that didn't sound very good. They're both really great at what they do, at least as far as I can tell. I mean, those guys wouldn't have taken all that stuff if they were bad at their work, right? I'm just not an astrophysicist," she sighed. "They're nice to me and all, but most of the time I just try to keep from looking too stupid when they talk about technical stuff."

Loki laughed again. "You seem no more inept than any other human I've encountered. In fact, I'd venture to say that you are the most pleasant human I've come across in a very long time," he said.

"Thanks," she awkwardly accepted the compliment.

"So, if you don't have an interest in their work, why are you working with them?" Loki asked as he continued to alternate staring up at the thing in the sky he couldn't see and the multiple presences approaching from the distance that he would soon be able to see.

"It's a college credit. I have to do an internship, and this was the only one I could land. I was the only one who applied, but I think that's mostly because of the location. Most of the physicists I've met would rather spend time in a lab or observatory than out in the desert," she bitterly joked.

He didn't exactly understand what she was saying, but he caught enough to get the jist of it. "What is your actual field of study?" Loki asked.

"Political science," she replied, obviously not very confident with that fact.

Even with as distracted as he was, he recognized her apprehension. It was that of someone who was pursuing something they had a real interest in but had not received very much encouragement for. He looked her in the eyes for a moment. "Continue that pursuit. You have an aptitude for it," he told her, even going as far as to use his powers of suggestion to firmly implant that idea in her mind.

"Yeah, alright," she barely managed to reply. After a brief awkward silence, she said. "So, if you're married, do you have any kids?"

He cocked an incredulous eyebrow. "My wife and I have no children," he carefully replied.

"Have you considered adopting?" she proposed.

"We have no desire to care for children at this time," he asserted.

Darcy sighed.

"Why does that disappoint you?" he asked curiously.

"'Cause you seem like you'd be a good dad," she replied with a small smile.

Loki chuckled. "How old do you think I am?"

She shrugged. "I dunno, like thirty, maybe forty."

"Little one, by your calendar, I am hundreds of years old," he corrected. That wasn't quite right, but it was close enough to get his point across.

"So I'm like an infant to you, aren't I?" she questioned.

Because she sounded genuinely curious and not even remotely offended by the idea, he answered her. "In some respects, yes, that is how it seems, but in others," he said, taking a moment to obviously look over her womanly form, "you are obviously very mature."

Darcy's eyes grew wide and she blushed. "You're married!" she scolded.

Loki stood. "They're coming," he said smugly.

Darcy also stood and looked out into the distance to see a growing dust cloud with little black specks in front of it. "What are you going to do?" she asked anxiously.

"Whatever I have to," he answered quietly. "You should join the others over by the vehicle."


	27. Airborne Reunion

When Agent Coulson and his men pulled up to the scene, Loki was standing in roughing the same place as when he'd landed on Earth. However, when he got out of his car, he saw that there was more than one of the fair man with dark hair. In addition to the one standing by himself, there was one of him standing behind each of the three people that had brought him out there in the first place.

"Loki, I presume," Coulson said as he slowly approached the one standing alone.

Loki looked down at the little man in the black suit. "Where is Myrkr?" he calmly demanded.

Coulson pointed upward. "She's fine," he assured. "Would you like to speak with her?" he proposed.

That surprised Loki, though he did well not to show it. "That would be preferable."

The smaller man nodded and pulled out his phone. A few seconds later, he put it to his ear. "Director Fury, Agent Coulson here with Loki. He would like to speak with Myrkr," he said surely.

Loki barely heard the voice on the other end say, "She happens to be right here," before the phone was handed to him.

"Myrkr?" he asked cautiously.

"Loki," she said with a sigh of relief.

"Are you alright?" he asked, eyeing the man in front of him with intense suspicion.

"Yes, I'm fine. In spite of having taken me without asking, they've treated me very well," she assured. "Are you alright?"

"It has been a very stressful few hours, but I am alright," he answered.

"You should let those people go," she advised.

Loki glared upward. "Not until I see you again. Not until you are safely by my side," he contested.

"Threatening them won't bring us any closer. I know they are your only bargaining chip, but I'm asking you to let them go," she tried.

"They're making you say that," Loki grumbled.

"I don't know how to convince you that's not the case," she sighed. "You know I want this to be over, but not at the cost of threatening others. All things considered, they were quite nice to us, weren't they? I mean, at the very least, they were nicer to me than your brother's friends," she wryly joked.

Loki's frown deepened as he sighed. "A compromise," he said surely.

A second later, Agent Coulson's phone dropped into the dust as the image holding it up disappeared, as did the images standing behind Jane and Erik. The one behind Darcy remained. "I keep this one until my wife and I are reunited," he said.

Coulson grumbled and picked up his phone. "I suppose that's progress." He held the device to his ear. "Myrkr?" he asked.

"I'm still here," she replied.

"Thank you," he told her seriously.

"That was not for you," she bitterly replied and handed the phone back to Fury.

Loki took Darcy by the hand and led her over to the man in the suit.

"And here I thought we were getting along," Darcy muttered.

"We are. I know you won't do anything terribly stupid, and you know that I don't really want any harm to come to you," Loki assured. "Now," he said as he approached the smaller man, "what are we going to do?"

Coulson gave a wry little smile. "Well, it seems that your friend-" he began but Darcy cut him off.

"Wife," she interjected.

The agent rolled his eyes. "I would arrange to have your wife dropped off here for you, but she doesn't seem to handle the heat very well. Come with me, and I'll take you to her," he offered.

Loki frowned. "You intend to take me to your invisible fortress in the sky," he accused.

"That's where she is, and I can pretty much guarantee that she is more comfortable there than anywhere else in the area," he sniped.

"And once we are reunited?" Loki prompted.

"Then you will be free to go. However, I am authorized to make further deals with you, should the opportunity arise," Coulson informed.

Loki eyed him suspiciously. "Deals such as?"

"Myrkr told us that this was not your desired destination on Earth. If you would be willing to give us information about yourself, your method of interstellar travel, and your point of origin, we would be willing to take you where you wanted to go and potentially ensure that no one else will bother you once you get there," he bargained.

That sounded reasonable, but Loki knew better than to trust such a good deal too quickly. "How can I trust you to honor such a deal? Once we are in the air, our means of escape would be severely limited. We would be at your mercy," he pointed out.

"Like she's at yours?" he said nodded at Darcy.

Loki gave the woman holding his hand a sidelong glance before answering. "It is my experience that humans in positions of power, such as yourself, care little for the lives of those who cannot further their cause."

"Then why take the person you perceive to be the least useful to me as your hostage?" Coulson countered.

Loki suppressed his smile. "Because she annoys me the least," he replied simply. He understood that if this organization valued life, especially human life, then they would treat his hostage as valuable regardless of who it was. However, if they were only interested in information and were willing to obtain it through any means, then this person would likely be worthless to them and they would not value her life in the least. He knew that in a situation like this which sort of people he wanted to be trusting and which he should deal with as quickly as possible.

Coulson nodded. "I suppose that's fair. Come with me," he said as he turned and headed back to his car. He sat in the passenger seat while Loki and Darcy were situated in the back.

As they started to drive away, Loki gave a brief wave back to the two scientists. Erik and Jane stood dumbfounded in the middle of the desert for a moment before suddenly Jane turned to Erik.

"We have to go after her," Jane said, rushing to get into the truck.

Erik quickly followed and they raced after the black cars.

They almost weren't allowed to drive into the Air Force base, but someone called the guard just as he was turning them away and told him to let them through.

Jane rushed up to Darcy just as she was getting out of the black car parked near the helecoptor. "You can't do this!" she said as she tried to pull the younger girl away from the scene. She shot a cautious look up at the others and was surprised that Loki was watching them curiously from a short distance away.

Darcy carefully pulled away. "Maybe if I do, you can get some of your stuff back," she proposed hopefully.

Jane was taken aback by that. "No, your safety is more important than that," she barely said.

Darcy gave Jane a critical look. "You didn't want to take Miri to the hospital because you only had so much time to get the readings you needed." She sighed. "I'm not saying you don't care about people, but you really care a lot about your work. I don't blame you," she shrugged. "I've never worked that hard for anything in my life. You might get a bit crazy about it sometimes, but it obviously means something. You've worked really hard, and you deserve to have your stuff back." Then she gave the older woman an impish look. "And maybe I can get my iPod back too," she joked.

Jane just laughed and hugged the younger woman. "Okay, fine. Be careful," she said as she let her go. Then she went over to the tall, dark-haired man. "If she gets so much as a scratch, I will make sure you suffer for it," she threatened seriously.

Loki smiled down at her. "My, my, you are a feisty one," he muttered. "If anything happens to your darling little friend, it will be because those people," he said with a motion at the men and women in black suits, "were not honorable in their dealings with me."

"I don't care about them. They didn't take my friend hostage. You did, and you will be the one who has to answer if anything happens to her," she insisted before turning and going back to her truck to watch them take off.

Moments later, they were in the air. Loki was impressed by the humans' ability to fly with such ease, but didn't show it. As they flew, Agent Coulson took a moment to introduce himself and get the full names of those he was traveling with. When they landed, they were escorted from the hanger to the inner area of the helicarrier.

"Miss Lewis," Coulson said as they walked. "I assure you that we will do everything in our power to ensure your safety."

She nodded. "Yeah, whatever. If I'm good, can Jane have her stuff back?" she questioned.

Coulson laughed. "It's already being arranged."

"Where is my wife?" Loki interrupted.

"Right this way," Coulson said as he took the lead.

Along the way, they were met by Director Fury, who curtly introduced himself. "You and your wife have caused us quite the headache," he mildly accused.

"I could say the same for you and your organization," Loki retorted.

Fury nodded. "You should know that our intentions are not hostile. We realize that it is generally in our best interest to keep visitors safe."

"Tell me, Director Fury, are we your first such visitors?" Loki asked knowingly.

"From what your wife has told us, Earth has had visitors, such as yourself, many times in the past, but this is our organization's first encounter with extraterrestrial life. It may seem like we've gotten off on the wrong foot, but I hope you understand that we are only acting out of the best interests of the people of Earth," Fury answered.

Loki nodded. "And where is my wife?" He asked. He hated having to ask more than once.

"In here," Fury said as he took another few steps and opened one of the doors.

Loki was naturally wary of the room until his wife popped out. "Myrkr?" he cautiously greeted.

"Loki," she said with an affectionate sigh. Then she caught him in a loving embrace.

He held her like that for a moment until she stepped back with a stern look on her face. He was just about to ask her what was wrong when she slapped him.

"I went though a lot of trouble to find you," he said with a growl.

"That's for leaving me alone on this crazy planet," she playfully scolded.

He reluctantly nodded. "I suppose that's fair, except you would have fainted after five minutes outside in the sun," he replied tartly.

Then she hit him again, this time in the chest.

"And that?" he prompted irritably. He knew exactly what she was doing, proving to them that he wasn't inherently violent, but it was still very annoying.

"Is for taking this young woman," Myrkr replied with a brief motion to Darcy.

"Are you finished abusing me?" Loki asked leveling a look at her that said she had better be.

"For now," she dismissively replied, then she turned to Darcy. "I hope he wasn't too rude to you," she said with mock concern.

Darcy gave her a weird look. "No, he was alright," she dismissed, then she thought of something. "He did sort of make a pass at me though," she added impishly.

Myrkr looked over at Loki, who was pointedly not paying attention to them, then looked Darcy over from head to toe and back up again before shrugging.

That's about when Fury interjected. "We'll give you two some time to catch up and send someone by later to discuss any further arrangements," he said before turning and leaving, taking Darcy and all but two of his agents with him.

"Is there anything you need in the meantime?" one of the agents dutifully inquired.

"Some water," Loki requested.

"And if you could drop the temperature of this room another couple degrees," Myrkr added.

"I'll do what I can," she assured before leaving them alone.

Once they were alone, or as alone as they could be considering the circumstances, they really hugged, pressing their bodies together as though they could become one. Then they kissed, finally admitting to themselves that they were genuinely scared that they might not have been able to see each other again and that they were fortunate that they were once again together.

When they finally sat down on one of the stiff couches by the long glass window, they took turns recounting their day. Loki left out the part where he nearly kill Erik for not being able to tell him where she was because he didn't want to reveal how truly desperate his inability to locate her had made him.

"You've spent more time with these people than I have. Do you trust them?" Loki finally asked.

She shrugged. "I don't distrust them as much as I did initially. So far, they've been fairly good to me. The only really offensive thing they did was take a strand of my hair without asking, but when I was told that it was for divining my origin, I had a hard time holding that against them. It seems they are more concerned with their safety than anything else," she reasoned.

"This world does have a fear of intergalactic conquest, an unfounded fear since at no point in their history has such a thing happened," he scoffed.

She gave him a look that said she knew he was lying. Her people had attempted to lay waste to Earth over a thousand years ago, and it was Odin and the army of Asgard that had kept them from that. The look he gave her told her not to say what she was thinking, so she moved onto other things. "I think they would actually take us where we want to go," she said.

"But at what cost?" he muttered.

Just then, the door chime rang. When it opened, Agent Coulson was on the other side. He had two tall glasses of ice water, and the first thing he did was turn to the control panel next to the door and use it to lower the temperature another ten degrees.

"Pardon the interruption, but it seems we still have a couple things to discuss," he said knowingly.

"You said that you wanted information in exchange for safe passage to the southern polar region of this planet," Loki stated.

"That's correct. Let's start by verifying a few things. Myrkr, if you could remain silent during this portion, it would be greatly appreciated," he urged because he didn't want to risk asking her to step out of the room while he verified what he had told her and what they had found out from her hair sample.

He took a minute to go over their names and their point of origin as well as their means of travel. Pleased that things seemed to line up, though that wasn't exactly surprising since they'd been given time to talk before he was allowed to question them, he continued from there.

"We took a hair sample from your wife," Coulson said. "I regret that we did it without asking first, but I hope you understand why we would do such a thing," he told Loki, who nodded dismissively.

"Her hair is so long, stray strands fall out all over the place. If you had to carry her, as I assume you did to move her to this place, it is likely that she left at least one behind on someone's jacket," Loki mused.

Myrkr rolled her eyes.

Coulson nodded. "Would you let us take a strand of your hair as well?" he asked hopefully.

"What do you use such samples for?" he questioned.

"We use them to see your genetic makeup. It's less intrusive than asking for full body scans, though it can take more time," he replied.

"And what would my genetic makeup tell you?" Loki pressed.

"It would tell us what species you are and if you have any relation to any of the species here on Earth. I know that's unlikely at this point, but our scientists do like to study such similarities and differences. It could also tell us about where you're from, though only through inference," he added.

Loki plucked a strand of hair from his head and gave it to the little man in the suit. "Anything else?"

Coulson chuckled and pulled a baggie out of his pocket to carefully place the hair into. "I'd just like to ask you some general questions. If I happen to touch on anything too personal or even taboo, just let me know," he said.

The couple looked at each other before nodding to him.

"Loki, you seem to handle the heat better than Myrkr," Coulson observed.

He nodded.

"Is that a gendered trait among your race or a condition specific to one of you," he tried.

"It's a racial trait," Loki vaguely replied.

Coulson nodded and continued from there with a series of questions given to him by various interested parties. He was able to get a fairly detailed description of Asgard as well as its culture. He even got Loki to explain some of the basics of magic. Finally, he was able to determine that they were in fact visiting Earth for a vacation getaway, though things had not gone quite as planned. The only thing he was not able to get out of the couple was even the basics of how they traveled to Earth.

"For that information, I believe you would be best served by Miss Jane Foster and her friends," Loki said haughtily.

Coulson nodded. "I was thinking the same thing," he replied.

"Besides, I think we've provided enough information to earn our safe passage," Loki chided.

"I think so too. Thank you," Coulson said. "There is one other thing I wanted to discuss before letting you be."

"What's that?" Loki prompted.

"At this point, I'm sure it doesn't surprise you that we've gone through your packs," he began.

Myrkr rolled her eyes. "So?"

"You didn't bring much with you," he noted.

"Most of what we need can be found on this world," Loki informed.

Agent Coulson nodded. "Right, but you didn't pack any food and where you're going, there's almost nothing to eat. We were wondering if you needed some rations...unless your species doesn't need to eat very often," he retracted.

"There is a very specific set of wildlife there. Not our usual fare, but I'm sure we can make do."

Coulson pursed his lips. "I'm not sure how good of an option that is."

"Why not?" Myrkr practically demanded. "We are both capable hunters."

"I'm sure you are, but much of the wildlife there is endangered. We can't, in good conscience, let you hunt most of them," he told them.

"Endangered? It's my understanding that there are few predators in that region. How are they in danger?" Myrkr questioned.

Loki knew exactly what the other man was talking about, and he gave him an expectant look that urged him to explain himself.

"Not in danger, endangered. It's a term we used when referring to a species that is near extinction," he tried.

Myrkr scoffed. "Every species is only one generation from extinction," she asserted.

"No, my dear," Loki interjected. "These people don't always take very good care of their world. The animals in question are dying out because of things they've done and continue to do."

"Efforts are being made to remedy the situation, one of which is tight restrictions on hunting and fishing in that region," Coulson informed.

Myrkr glared at him.

"There are a few animals there you could hunt," he tried, "but if you harm any of the others, there will be consequences." His threat was vague because he wasn't exactly sure what kinds of legal action they could realistically take against a pair of extraterrestrials that would mean anything to them.

"Bring us a list," Loki suggested.

Coulson nodded and left. Someone else returned a short while later with a small stack of papers. Each one had a picture of an animal on it and a brief description of it. They were told that those were the animals they were allowed to hunt and only in small numbers, preferably one at a time as needed.

"These are all balls of fat," Myrkr complained. "How can they even move?"

Loki chuckled. "I think they might surprise us. Either way, this is our only option if we want to remain on good terms with these people," he lamented.

After that, they were left alone for quite some time. They hardly spoke or moved, content to simply sit on the minimal furniture and hold one another in comfortable silence. Several hours later, Agent Coulson returned.

"We've nearly arrived," he told the couple.

"Thank you," Loki said with a nod.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to speak with you again," he carefully said.

"Oh? What about?" Loki prompted.

Coulson smiled. "When we ran your hair sample, it came back human," he told the dark-haired man.

"So?" he shrugged.

Myrkr tried not to giggle.

"We were told that you are not human," Coulson informed.

"Perhaps your equipment or methods are faulty, or maybe one of your people made a mistake," he tried with a smirk.

"I don't think so. I think you changed your DNA like you changed her appearance," Coulson said.

Loki smiled. "These people are more clever than I thought," he said to his wife.

"So, in light of that information, I've been asked to make another deal with you," the suited man said.

"And what might that be?" Myrkr asked hopefully.

"Give us a genuine sample to analyze and show us what you really look like," he began.

"And in exchange?" Loki prompted.

"We will give you communication devices. Primarily, they could be used to keep track of one another, but you could also use them to give us a call when you're ready to get picked up. You did allude to the idea that you had to return to your point of entry in order to get back to Asgard," he bargained.

The couple looked at one another.

"He's right," Myrkr said, "and truth be told, this was a rather pleasant way to travel."

Loki nodded and gave the man another strand of his hair. Then he turned to his wife and cupped her cheek in one hand while quietly saying a few words. A moment later, she was returned to her normal Jotun appearance.

She hesitantly looked at the man sitting across from them to see his reaction. He appeared to be making an effort to contain his surprise. Feeling bold, she stood, winked at the surveillance camera perched up in the corner of the room, and made a slow spin. "How's that?" she asked.

He pursed his lips. "Much appreciated," he managed.

She took a small step toward him and sniffed the air. "You don't need to be nervous," she said knowingly.

Coulson laughed in astonishment. "I'll keep that in mind," he said. Then he gave them their ETA and ducked out.


	28. Honeymoon

Loki and Myrkr were each issued a SHIELD communicator and instructed on how to use them to both keep in contact with each other but also how to signal that they were ready to be picked up and taken back to New Mexico so that they could return to Asgard with minimal interference from anyone else. Of course, this also ensured that the agency could keep the closest eye on the couple, track their movements, and eventually gather more information regarding their method of interstellar travel.

The couple sat with Agent Coulson and two other SHIELD agents in a helicopter as it hovered over the Antarctic ice.

"This should be sufficient," Loki said as he looked down at the drifting snow below.

"We'll find a good spot to land nearby then," one of the agents said.

"That won't be necessary. Just drop down another bit, and we can jump down," Loki dismissed.

The lower ranking agents looked to Coulson, who shrugged, so they did as they were asked.

"It's nearly dark," Myrkr noted. "How long till night?" she asked.

"About a month," Coulson replied.

She thought on that for a moment then nodded.

"Go on, Darling," Loki urged Myrkr once they were close enough. "I'll be along in a moment with our things," he assured.

She nodded and dove out of the chopper with a peal of giddy laughter until she landed gracefully in the snow and started to run around.

"She's like a kid on Christmas," Coulson mused.

Loki smiled at the reference. "Am I to understand that your organization will be observing us during our stay?" he assumed.

"I don't suppose it does much good to lie to you of all people," he chuckled. "So yes, but it will only be passive satellite monitoring," he assured.

"I suppose that's fair. What if I prevent us from being observed?" he proposed.

"Then we will have learned that you are capable of hiding two people in a largely barren wasteland," Coulson mused.

"Well, thank you again for the transport. It turned out to be quite convenient. I hope we meet again on good terms," he vowed as he gathered their bags. Then, he took their bags and dove out of the helicopter and down into the snow.

Coulson noticed as they flew away that Loki's skin had changed from caucasian to blue on impact. Though he did already know about the sly man's shape shifting abilities, it did make him wonder what his true form was, or even if he really even had one. Perhaps that was something he could discover when they met again.

They took some time to enjoy their solitude. There wasn't another soul for miles around, and while they knew they weren't completely alone on the icy continent, SHIElD had been careful to leave them in an area far from any human outposts. They had a snowball fight and raced, which ended in a wrestling match that quickly turned from competitive into something more cooperative.

Myrkr let Loki pin her on her stomach, relishing the feeling of her the snow on her face as he held her down with a firm hand between her shoulders. He was about to make a snarky comment about how she had been easier to catch than usual when her hips rolled and her backside moved upward to press against him, making him groan as his hand slid up from her shoulders to tangle in her hair.

Sensing that she had successfully shifted his attention, she reached down to her shorts. It took a moment for her to undo the fly, a seemingly simple button and zipper that she still had trouble with if she wasn't looking at, but as soon as it was undone, she pushed her shorts as well as her underwear down to her knees. She gave a gasping little moan at the feeling of the cold air on her most sensitive area. Relishing that feeling, she reached up and grabbed the cleft of her ass on either side, spreading herself as wide as she could.

Loki gasped, unintentionally taking in more of her intoxicating scent before moving his hands down to her hips. She expected him to take her then and there, since that was what she was obviously asking for, which was why she gave a squeal of delighted surprise when he rolled her hips as far forward as he could and stuck his tongue inside her, tasting every bit of her womanhood before shifting slightly to nip at her round backside. Myrkr whimpered and moaned into the snow, clawing ineffectually at the ice beneath.

"A-Are they watching us?" she barely asked when he sat back on his heels to push his pants down.

"They are trying to," Loki casually replied.

"But you won't let them see this, right?" she asked breathlessly.

He smiled to himself. From his limited experience with Jotuns, he had determined that she was unusually modest for her species. It was something that he hadn't put much more than a passing thought into, since he understood that her isolation and bicultural upbringing had caused her to be that way. Even if that wasn't the case, he did appreciate her desire to be completely alone with him. The watchful eyes of others tended to stoke the inhibitions of lovers, something that this little getaway was supposed to avert. "No, not this. While I dislike the idea of showing so much of my power to these humans, I would dislike sharing this moment with them even more," he assured.

Myrkr was about to agree with him, but the feeling of his body leaning down to cover hers stole her words. That was fine because she would prefer to communicate non-verbally instead by pushing back against him and rolling her hips so that his erection teased between her legs. That was all it took to get Loki to enter her. In fact, he was so immersed in their moment that he lost almost all track of what was happening. When he had opportunity to look back on it later, he would be glad that he chose to obscure their general area rather than try to maintain the concentration to hide two individuals.

All he could seem to think about was the gloriously biting cold and the beautiful howls of pleasure coming from the woman beneath him. It was probably the most carnal moment he'd ever experienced. He felt almost completely out of his right mind, acting purely on instinct and in response to what his body told him was right. It was unnerving and beautiful at the same time to be so lost in what was happening. It gave him an appreciation for how his brother and their friends seemed to feel most of the time.

Myrkr cried out for him as loudly as she could and pushed back to meet his thrusts as often as possible. She had never seen him behave so naturally, doing what felt right without so much as a second thought. It was a moment she wished could last forever. A dark little part of her even wished that they would just die together like that because it was just that perfect. The feeling of his uneven grip in her hair, his ragged, growling breath on her skin, his icy hard member pushing deeply into her core, it was almost too much.

He slammed into her so hard that by the time they were done, she was flat on her stomach; he had one hand tangled in her hair and the other braced firmly on the ground next to her. He finished with a forceful grunt before falling down on top of her. It took him a minute or so to come to his senses, at which point he was struck with a sudden pang of worry that he had perhaps been too aggressive or forceful in his moment of abandon.

Myrkr could sense that and when Loki started to back up off her, she gave a low growl and the next thing he knew, their positions were reversed. He swallowed a mouthful of snow as she laid down on top of him, gripping his hair to pull his head to one side. At first, he thought she was angry, but out of the corner of his eye, he could see a mischievous grin playing on her lips and the way she kissed and nipped at his earlobe made him shudder as she settled in on top of him.

"Where did you think you were going?" she asked through a playful growl.

"I just wanted to see your face, my dear," he managed to reply.

"You don't need to see my face," she told him as she continued to hold him down.

"I got a bit carried away there. I was worried-" he tried, but his breath caught when she started nuzzling the crook of his neck.

"I could have stopped you at any time. Even in a frenzy of lust, you hear me. Listen to your senses," she insisted. "Do not mistake the force of passion and the desire for release for the force of violence and the desire for power. I loved that you forgot yourself just now. It is an abandon that I am rarely party to. Do not sully it with your worry," she warned.

This was the most genuinely authoritative that Loki had ever seen his wife. He had seen her behave with authority on Jotunheim and wield the power of her position over others when necessary. This was different. It was real, and it he found it much more attractive than he would have anticipated. He made a small sound of satisfaction as he reached back and grabbed hold of her, flipping her over his head and onto her back where he could easily pounce on her. "Keep that up, darling, and the only thing we'll be doing while we're here is coupling like a pair of wild animals," he teased before giving into the urge to nip at her lips.

As much as she fought the displacement from her position of power, she ended up smiling. "How am I supposed to argue with that? Part of me feels like this is the first time we've been genuinely intimate with one another. Let it last as long as it can," she urged as she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him in for a passionate kiss.

They didn't couple immediately again after that, though they did spend quite a bit of time simply rolling around in each others arms, touching and kissing and generally being affectionate. Neither spoke hardly a word the entire time, opting instead for nonverbal cues and intense eye contact to get their feelings across.

Loki felt like every little caress set his senses alight. Colors were brighter and he could see the subtle differences in them more readily. It was as though he could feel every little flake of snow as it blew across his skin, and he noticed that instead of getting goosebumps, the wide, slight markings on his skin rose up instead. It was a little thing that made him smile and hold her even more tightly until they decided to find a better place to spend the majority of their time.

"This is fantastic. I haven't seen another soul since we landed!" Myrkr raved as they found a place to make camp and settle in.

Loki smiled and hugged her tightly. "Not quite Jotunheim, but as close as I could get without traveling into the complete unknown," he mused.

"Don't be silly. This is perfect," she said, holding him tightly and tackling him to the ground again.

They spent the next couple of hours getting settled and grooming one another. Myrkr showed Loki how to take a snow bath, which he found to be oddly refreshing, and he let her braid his hair so that it would stop getting matted with snow and sticking to his face and neck. It was something he found to be surprisingly intimate and very relaxing. She only pulled a couple of times, and never hard enough to even make him wince, but overall, she was quite dexterous, and the little song she hummed as her fingers carefully worked through his hair made it difficult not to relax. However, before too long, Loki's stomach started to growl.

Myrkr stopped and took a handful of snow and tasted it. "There's game nearby," she said with a glint in her eyes that he'd never quite seen before. The closest was the couple of times in their bedroom when he'd teased her until she pushed him down and rode him until neither of them could take it anymore.

"Shall we hunt?" he proposed.

She smiled and nodded. They took off toward the ice shelf.

"Those thing don't even look that good to eat. They're so fat!" she complained.

"Actually, it seems to me that while they do have an obvious layer of fatty tissue, they are also quite muscular. I believe they won't be so bad. I also think they're going to give you more trouble than you realize," he snickered.

She did not take kindly to having her hunting prowess questioned. "Back home, I would be compelled to ask you to sit this one out. Taking the life of such a small, sad creature is a task that only one should have to suffer though," she taunted in return.

"Then by all means," he replied, his smirk never wavering.

Loki was somewhat surprised when the herd of seals that made that particular ice shelf part of its home didn't really react to Myrkr's presence at all. Then he remembered that the biggest danger to these creatures was the weather. It made sense that they hardly reacted to her. Her next task, however, was more difficult. Apparently, they were cooperative in a way that she didn't expect. Whenever she could manage to get one of the lean creatures headed away from the group, it seemed that at least a portion of the group would follow it. He had never seen her hunt before, and it fascinated him to watch her.

Because their primary reaction to her was to make way for her if it wasn't too inconvenient to them, she was easily able to case almost the entire herd. When she reached the edge of the shelf and stopped to watch them glide into the water, swim around in the freezing water until they caught a fish, which they brought back up onto the ice with graceful, practiced ease only to have to do the strange undulating wiggle to get any further than that, an awkward sort of locomotion that Myrkr was apparently having a hard time coming to terms with.

She stood and watched them enter and leave the water for nearly half an hour before Loki approached. Some of the seals, especially the larger males, stood their ground against him, making him take a very meandering path to his wife for the sake of avoiding a direct conflict.

"I'm still quite hungry," he said in a chiding voice.

Myrkr sighed. "I don't like these creatures," she complained.

"They're a bit brighter than you anticipated, but don't tell me you can't manage at least one," he teased.

"Did you know that it's almost unheard of for a Jotun to hunt alone?" she asked as she watched yet another slick, blubbery creature slide back into the ocean.

"Except in situations where the prey is so small and so dull that one person could take care of it easily," he clarified, proving that he not only earned a handful of friendly acquaintances but also a cultural lesson in the process.

She nodded. "I mean completely by oneself," she said. "Even in the situation you're describing, there is always a hunting party. We go in groups, always, even when the challenge level of the prey doesn't require it for a successful kill."

Loki frowned.

"I never actually hunted with another person before. Either people shared with me what they had or I was forced to go out alone. Anyone would, from time to time, get tired of living off handouts and decide to just go out by themselves, right?" she reasoned.

Loki came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He kissed the side of her neck and said, "Undoubtedly, Laufey forbid others to hunt with you. He knew that the shame of such things would help to keep you in his control. It would also help to make sure you wouldn't get any more precious calories than you absolutely needed so that you could be kept weak."

"It took me far too long to realize that was what he'd done," she confessed. "If I was here by myself, I would have a choice. I could take the approach that my people would endorse, which is dive into the water after one and likely get attacked by a number of others, and it seems their teeth are quite sharp. This is obviously the dangerous option, because I could much more easily find one up on the ice, kill it, and have it dragged off before they even realized there was danger," she informed.

"When we visited your world, you told the others that you had slain great beasts, and the reason they were unaware of that was because you did it by yourself and without the need for recognition," he pointed out.

"I did what I had to in order to survive. Usually that meant accepting the offerings of other as graciously as possible. Other times it meant finding my own resources. When I could, I would hunt properly. I would do it the right way, even when no one was watching, but it wasn't always like that. When I was in a hurry or especially worn down, I would-" She paused for a moment to take a deep breath. "I would do it the easy way."

"What's the easy way?" he pressed curiously.

Myrkr gave a guilty look over her shoulder before turning to one of the larger seals. With a swift hand motion, it's flippers were stuck to the ice. Before it had time to realize what was happening, she made another motion with her other hand. A spike rose up from the ice and went straight through the creature's head. It immediately stopped moving, and the other animals slowly backed away from it.

"Dinner's ready," she said sardonically.

Her very brief display of her abilities made Loki's stomach flip-flop. "That was...very efficient," he managed.

His tone made her turn around to look at him. "It was wrong, but I was tired of talking about it. I killed it quickly so we could move on to other things," she said plainly.

Loki nodded. He had never seen her behave in such a cold and calculating manner.

"Is something wrong?" she asked as she released her kill and started over toward it.

He smiled in mild disbelief. "You know one of the things I absolutely love about you?" he asked as he followed her.

As they picked up the blubbery little creature and began to haul it off, she grimly replied, "That I'll break social convention to cut off an uncomfortable conversation?"

"I am rather fond of that, but I was thinking about how well you have to know the rules in order to break them so thoroughly," he half-teased.

That actually made her smile. Her entire life she'd been inundated by the rules of two very different cultures and was expected to live by them both without coming off as a traitor to either. It was a very fine line for one to walk, and he seemed to appreciate that. What she appreciated was that the person she'd been married to was also very acquainted with an inordinate amount of rules regarding every aspect of his life and how elegantly he broke those rule when it suited him.

"I also hope you're not offended, but I have to say that was actually very impressive. It was a clean kill, and it happened so fast this pitiful creature didn't suffer at all," he told her seriously.

"That is the redeeming element of the whole thing," she sighed.

When they were finished eating, Myrkr showed Loki how to best preserve the leftovers for later. Then, Loki turned to her with an impish grin.

"How 'bout that swim?" he asked hopefully.

Myrkr couldn't help but smile. They practically tore off their clothes as they ran to the icy water. She was the first one there, if only because Loki was enjoying watching her so immensely, and she dove in without a second thought. She found the water to be pleasant and refreshing, but when a very large aquatic creature came into her vision, she screamed and quickly made her way back to the surface.

Loki was just about to jump in when she surfaced with a slightly panicked look on her face. "What's the matter, darling?"

She looked at him, then back down at the water. Whatever she saw didn't seem to be following her. "There are no large predators here, right? Even in the water?" she pressed anxiously.

He hopped and swam over to her. It was his first time swimming Jotun form and he was surprised by how good the freezing water felt. "Not as far as we're concerned. Why? What did you see?"

Myrkr breathed a sigh of relief before urging Loki to follow her under the water. They swam for a minute before she was able to find the whale again. He smiled and swam up to the giant, gently patting it's side. Myrkr's eyes grew wide, and she carefully went over to do the same.

When they surfaced, she was amazed by what just happened. "That giant, it's so gentle," she awed.

Loki smiled. "Nothing quite like that on Jotunheim," he mused.

"Not at all, but we don't have oceans like this," she laughed and dove back down to explore more.

Loki followed and explored with her, finding that he could hold his breath for much longer in his Jotun form than he expected. Learning these new things almost would have made the trip worth it on their own, but having her by his side all the while made it all the better. He was happy to have all that hassle behind them and looking forward to having a nice vacation with the one person he truly felt bonded to.


	29. Party Crashers

Two days after Loki and Myrkr left on their vacation, Thor and a couple of his friends went to Heimdal to see if he could tell them how the couple was faring on their little getaway.

"I'm not really sure we should be prying like this," Fandral hesitantly criticized as they walked down the rainbow bridge.

"We're not prying," Thor dismissed. "I just want to make sure they are safe and doing well. If it bothers you so much, you don't have to come along. We can catch up with you later," he taunted.

Fandral and Volstagg exchanged meaningful looks.

With a nervous laugh, Volstagg said, "Actually, I think we'll take you up on that."

Thor looked to Sif and Hogun, who seemed not to understand the underlying meaning behind what was happening. He shrugged, "So be it," and continued along his way.

"Good Heimdal," Thor greeted while his two remaining friends bowed respectfully to the gatekeeper.

"My Prince, where would you and your friends like to go today?" he offered with his usual flat disinterest.

"Actually, we're not going anywhere today. I was just wondering if you could tell me how my brother and sister-in-law are faring so far? Are they well? Have they had any troubles?" he asked, barely able to hide his concern.

Heimdal looked away from the expanse of space before him for a moment to eye the blond prince. "They have had some difficulties, but are otherwise fine," the gatekeeper vaguely replied.

"What sort of difficulties?" Sif suddenly interjected.

"There are some humans who are...suspicious of them," he answered.

"Suspicious how?" Thor pressed.

"They have drawn the attention to two sets of humans. The smaller set is simply curious of them and have been of some minor assistance. The larger set have taken Lady Myrkr and are holding her, asking her questions, but have not harmed her," Heimdal replied as he continued to watch the expanse of space. "Prince Loki is in the process of looking for her at the moment."

"What?" Thor demanded. "Why didn't you say anything? If their safety is in question, you should have informed someone!"

"It is my determination that either they are not in any danger or that the danger is sufficient cause to refuse to open the Bifrost to Midgard," he neutrally replied.

Thor's anger flared. "I suppose then, we are going somewhere today," he said bitterly.

"Are you sure that's best? Shouldn't we consult the King first?" Sif carefully questioned.

Thor appeared pensive. "Heimdal, would you let us go to Midgard to make sure Loki and Myrkr are safe?"

"Whatever the dangers that opening the Bifrost to Midgard might present pale in comparison to the dangers that Asgard would face should the Casket Bearer of Jotunheim go missing after being taken to another world by her Asgardian husband," Sif diplomatically reasoned.

Heimdal continued to stare out into the star dotted space.

"Answer me!" Thor demanded.

"It seems that Loki and Myrkr have been reunited," Heimdal informed.

"Are they safe?" the blond prince insistently pressed.

"That has yet to be determined. As of yet, they are not unsafe, but in order to reunite with Myrkr, your brother had to join her on the humans' floating fortress," he said.

Thor growled. "You will send me to Midgard so that I can ensure their safety," he insisted.

"You should consult with the King," Heimdal advised.

Thor turned to Sif and Hogun. "Go to my father and inform him of what has happened. I intend to waste no further time," he told them.

"I'm going with you," Sif insisted before turning to Hogun. "Please, tell the King what we heard and that we have gone to make sure that everything is okay."

Heimdal considered this exchange. "I will allow you passage, but remember that I will not open the Bifrost again if it seems unsafe for Asgard unless otherwise ordered by the King," he warned.

Sif and Thor nodded. Hogun reluctantly nodded as well. He was not happy about having to be the one who told the King what was going on, but apparently he wasn't going to be given a choice.

Hogun found Fandral and Volstagg waiting at the entryway to the Bifrost, reclined against one of the many large pillars that lined the way between there and the castle.

"Where did Thor and Sif get off to?" Fandral asked as Hogun approached with an irritated and determined look on his face.

"To Midgard to rescue Loki and Myrkr," the soft-spoken warrior replied as he continued toward the throne room.

"Rescue them? From what?" the blond pressed anxiously as he scrambled to his feet.

"From the humans who are holding them against their will," the dark-haired man answered, not missing a step.

Again Fandral and Volstagg exchanged a meaningful look.

"There is likely some kind of misunderstanding," Volstagg insisted. "Has either of them been injured?"

"Not yet," Hogun replied.

"The Prince and his Princess are more than capable of taking care of themselves," Fandral insisted.

"That may be the case, but Thor has gone to Midgard to make sure of it, and Sif has gone with him, likely to prevent him from causing too much trouble. They asked me to inform the King, and that is what I will do," Hogun informed sternly.

The other two warriors fell silent but followed their third as he went and told the King of the situation. Odin was not especially happy. He was aware that his son and daughter-in-law had encountered some difficulties, not the least of which being the desert heat of their landing spot. He also had a fairly good idea that they were not in any real danger as long as neither of them did anything blatantly offensive to the people of Midgard, and he knew they were smarter than that. What really irritated him was his older son's rush to interfere in events that were nearly wrapping themselves up in such a way that was advantageous for everyone involved.

"Thank you, Hogun, you have always been a loyal subject of Asgard and good friend to my family," Odin told the younger man. He understood that although he was irritated with the situation, it was not Hogun's fault that this was his best course of action for someone in his position to take.

"What do you plan to do?" Frigga asked her husband.

"Nothing. These things will work themselves out," the King dismissively replied.

"So, they aren't in any danger?" Fandral managed to ask. Although he had taken the position to be involved as little as possible in the couple's affairs, he had begun to worry for them.

Odin nearly smiled. "If they are, it is their own fault for behaving too rashly, but you know my son and his wife. They are not prone to rashness, are they?"

"No, Your Highness," Fandral agreed with a bow.

Thor and Sif landed in the New Mexico desert in the late afternoon. As the dust cleared, they looked around to find that they were alone. Unbeknownst to them, Loki and Myrkr had already managed to strike a deal with SHIELD and were well on their way to Antarctica by that point. With a sigh, they started toward the nearest down.

"This heat is even worse than that of Asgard," Sif noted. "Myrkr would not last long in these conditions."

Thor frowned. "Loki has magic that can help her be less affected by the heat, but only for short periods." He pointed into the distance. "It is likely that they sought shelter in that village. Let us start our search there."

As they walked into town, they were met part way there by a large truck containing two humans, an older male and a younger female. They introduced themselves and immediately started asking questions.

"You were part of the bridge phenomenon that just occurred, weren't you?" Jane asked the armored pair.

"Where is my brother and his wife?" Thor demanded of the curious woman.

"You mean Loki and Myrkr?" Erik questioned.

Thor's expression darkened. "Where are they? What have you done with them?" he demanded.

Sif considered the situation for a moment. "This is probably the smaller group that Heimdal was talking about, the ones that were curious but helpful."

"They finally got their vacation getaway," Jane replied, obviously irritated.

Thor eyed them suspiciously and demanded that they explain themselves. Jane sighed as she had them pile into her truck. They got dinner on the way to her lab. Along the way, they answered whatever questions they could and were even allowed to ask a few of their own.

"So, they are alright?" Sif attempted to affirm as they all sat down to eat.

"As far as we know," Erik muttered.

"I'm so sorry you all got pulled into this. Is there anything we could do to help you in exchange for your efforts?" Sif proposed hopefully.

Thor sat back and looked at the warrior woman next to him. This was the second time that day she had used her skills of diplomacy to help him along on this quest. It made him smile an almost stupid little smile.

"Tell me everything you possibly can about that bridge," Jane immediately requested.

"We'll tell you what we can, but we're hardly experts on the matter," Sif replied.

"Did you to speak with my brother about it? Out of all of us, he probably understands it best," Thor confirmed what the scientists had suspected.

"I had a feeling you'd say that. He already told us about as much as he's going to." Regardless, Jane gathered what information she could. Sif provided some help with her sketches while Thor recounted what he could of the history of the Bifrost.

"Are you certain that you don't know of any way we could contact them," Thor pressed as it started to get dark.

"Based on previous observations, it should take less than twenty-four hours for SHIELD to find you two," Jane asserted bitterly.

"What about Darcy's cell phone?" Erik suddenly remembered. He had seen one of the agents hand it back to her as she got onto the helicopter.

Jane shrugged. It took three tries before Darcy answered.

"Jane, oh my gosh!" the younger girl nearly raved when she answered.

"Darcy, are you alright? Did they say anything about getting our stuff back?" she asked.

Darcy smiled because at least this time, Jane's first question was about her safety, even if it was quickly followed by concern for her research. "I'm fine. We're all fine, and these guys promised that you'll get your research back no problem," she assured.

Jane breathed a sigh of relief. "Where are you?"

"We're on our way back from Antarctica," Darcy irritably replied. "They said they'd drop me back there with you now that our alien friends can have their romantic getaway."

"It's not over yet," Jane muttered.

Just then, Agent Coulson came into the sitting room where Darcy was entertaining herself.

"There's more of them, isn't there?" Darcy assumed.

"Yeah, how did you know?" Jane asked.

"Because just as you said that, our Agent friend came to see me. For being a secret organization, they aren't very subtle," she wryly joked.

"How many?" Coulson asked Darcy.

"He wants to know how many more," she told Jane.

"Two, apparently one of them is Loki's brother," she replied.

Coulson muttered something into the intercom before requesting to speak with Jane on Darcy's phone. She only agreed after he consented to have SHIELD pay their long distance and roaming charges.

"What are their names?" Coulson asked.

"Thor and Sif," Jane answered.

"When did they arrive?" he continued.

"About three hours ago," she replied.

"What are their intentions?" Coulson questioned as casually as he could.

"They are here to make sure the other two are safe," Jane replied, but then Thor snatched the phone from her hand.

"I demand to speak to Loki!" the thunderer said in a commanding voice.

"Loki and Myrkr have just been dropped off, but if you like, I might be able to arrange a reliable communications link to them," Coulson informed. "Then, if you stay where you are and don't cause any trouble, we will come to you when we are done here and we can have a nice civil discussion about why aliens suddenly keep coming to Earth," he bargained.

"I am Thor Odinson, and you will put me into direct contact with my brother Loki right now," Thor curtly commanded.

Phil rolled his eyes. "In order to do that, I need to cut this connection and call you back," he informed.

"If they are really with you, put them on right now," Thor insisted. "I do not trust you to reinitiate contact."

"That is how it has to be," he said and hung up. He had intended to be more diplomatic about it, but he got the distinct impression that the situation called for a power play on his part to give the God of Thunder more realistic expectations of how contemporary humans would react to him. He gave Darcy back her phone, thanked her, and asked that she not answer it again while in flight.

"I know that thing they say about electronics on airplanes is bullshit. An outfit like this better not be able to be taken out by an incoming call," she protested.

"You're right, but I'm going to call them on our equipment so that the call doesn't drop and so we can monitor the call. You may come with me if you like," he offered.

She nodded and walked a few paces behind him. They weren't more than two steps out the door when Darcy's cell rang again. With a frown, she didn't answer, though she did take the liberty of sending Jane a text message that encouraged her to keep the line open. This earned her a nod of appreciation from the suited man as he continued on their way.

Agent Coulson went to one of the main computer terminals and called the couple's communicators. Myrkr was a little out of breath when she answered.

"What is it?" she panted.

"I'm sorry to bother you," he said congenially as he had one of the lower ranking agents adjust some of the call settings in the hope of maintaining an optimal connection, "but it is rather important."

"We only took one of those seal creatures and preserved the leftovers for later," Myrkr breathily asserted.

Coulson motioned for another agent to work harder on getting a solid video feed of them as well. "It's not that."

"Then what is it?" Loki hissed irritably.

"Two more people have come to Earth. They are very concerned for your safety. For the sake of maintaining good relations, I promised that a brief communication with you," he informed.

"Who else is here?" Myrkr asked, suddenly more focused, which irritated Loki, who had been sensually teasing her since they'd finished eating.

"I've been told their names are Thor and Sif," he replied.

Loki cursed. "How much trouble is it going to be for you if we refuse?"

Coulson rolled his eyes. "Quite a bit. It seems your brother has quite a temper on him. I'd rather keep a lid on that if at all possible, and the easiest way of doing that is to patch this call through to him," he said as that was being done.

It was then that the satellite's video feed finally connected and an image of the blue couple appeared on one of the screens. The sight of them nude together and obviously in the process of fooling around made Darcy gasp.

"What is it? What's the matter?" Myrkr asked when she heard the gasp.

"We can see you," the young woman informed as though she was at least mildly amused by the sight of them.

"That is your fault for looking," Loki chiddingly replied.

"You concealed yourselves earlier. Why not now?" Coulson asked as he checked the connections.

"It is tiresome, and I had hoped you lot would've gotten bored with us by now," he said as one hand slid between his wife's thighs. He didn't appear to be moving it but the way Myrkr buried her face in his neck told their little audience that he was doing something.

"Hold on just a few seconds. We're calling your brother back," Coulson informed.

"Hello?" Jane suddenly answered.

"Yes, this is Agent Coulson. I have Loki and Myrkr on the line, if you would please inform your company," he greeted calmly.

There was the sound of the phone swiftly changing hands before Thor requested, "Loki, speak to me."

"Brother," he growled irritably.

Thor paled a bit. He recognized that tone, and it made him immediately regret ever coming to Earth. His brother's voice was dark and heavy. He was a little breathless and sounded irritated and even offended to be speaking with him. Loki had only dared to take that tone with his older brother a handful of times in his life and every time was because he had always been naked and usually in the company of someone who shared his state of undress.

"While we do appreciate your concern, there is absolutely no reason for you to have followed us," Loki asserted while continuing to move his hands over his wife's body. Her continued sensual responses made it easier for him to keep his calm.

The dismissal of his good intentions brought back some of Thor's ferver. "Myrkr had been taken captive and you took a hostage," he asserted.

"Minor technicalities. I assure you that we are just fine and quite content where we are," Loki insisted. He would have sounded more menacing if his breath hadn't caught at the end of his sentence in response to Myrkr sitting up enough to kiss and nip at his chest. To regain some of his authority, he pushed her back down to into the snow as he said, "If you cause any trouble for us while you are here, I will personally make sure that you regret it for a very long time."

Thor grumbled in preparation for telling his brother off but wasn't quite given the chance to do it.

Loki knew his brother well enough that he could sense even just from that sound that he had probably pushed his brother a bit too far with that last threat so, just to be on the safe side, gracefully backpedaled. This bit of retraction was made easier by the way Myrkr had grabbed his hips and pressed herself against him. "Take a vacation of your own. We will find you when we are ready to leave. I assure you that although getting where we are was a more involved process than either of us was expecting, it would take quite a lot to get us to leave before we are ready."

Thor considered that for a moment and decided it was a good idea. There were two reasons for this decision. The first was the way Sif looked at him with the faintest glint of hopeful expectation in her eyes, and the second was how incredibly displeased his father probably was at this point. He agreed and wished them well before giving the phone back to Jane.

"And Agent Coulson," she called. "You're bringing Darcy right back here, right?" she asked insistently.

"That was our intention," he replied. "Thank you all for your time and patience," he said curtly before cutting both connections. "Miss Lewis, if you'd return to your room, someone will be along with your dinner."

Darcy crossed her arms over her chest. "I can't tell if you're so freaked out by all these aliens that you're about to completely lose it or if you're actually really happy about everything that's happened," she mused.

Phil looked over his shoulder at the young woman who had taken a stance that clearly indicated her desire to assert at least some control over her situation. "What makes you say that?"

"I bet it's about equal parts both. You're too calm right now," she reasoned.

"I think you might be right," he gave her a look that told her she should get going, but she didn't move. "Is there a reason you're not leaving like I asked you to," he asked bluntly.

"The other day, when you took all our stuff," she began.

"I already promised to have everything returned. We just needed to borrow Doctor Foster's research for a while, since she was the only one who had any idea what was really going on," he told her evenly.

Darcy all but ignored that reasoning. There was something else she was after. "You said that you all were the good guys."

"We try to be," he sighed.

"But you kidnapped Miri," she pointed out. Although it seemed like the alien woman had been just fine in their custody, she had imagined how truly scary her situation might have seemed. Maybe Jane was right and that the dark things that came to mind when they discussed the abduction only happened in the movies, but it had been a feeling she couldn't shake.

"For her own good. There was a fairly good chance that Loki and Myrkr could have made to the South Pole without help, they would have likely attracted the attention of less savory company along the way, and we had intended to approach them together, but that's not how it worked out so we did what we could with what we had," he lectured.

"How did you get her to go with you by herself?" she pressed.

"They do have a sort of inseparability about them, don't they?" he mused, mostly to himself. He had been wondering as they watched the couple fool around a few minutes ago if it there was some kind of biological or psychic connection between them or if that was the depth of their relationship. "When I realized she was alone, I went in to talk to her. I had been hoping to keep her company until her husband returned, at which point we could all discuss the situation together, but she panicked. I tried to calm her down, but she feinted. We took her with us because there was no way I was going to stand over the body of an unconscious woman and wait for her husband to return, especially when I'm essentially flying blind."

Loki probably would have killed him and his men on the spot, no questions asked, if he had entered in on such a scene. Darcy could tell from the alien man's behavior when he questioned them about where his wife was. He had threatened to kill them, at least twice, and he obviously had the strength to do it without much effort, and that wasn't counting magic.

"You should go back to your room," Coulson finally said. "I need to work."

With a grumble, Darcy turned and wandered about the helicarrier until someone finally corralled her in her room for dinner.


	30. Truth and Myth

Agent Coulson knocked on Jane's door the following afternoon. "I'm sorry we're so late. Miss Lewis demanded that we stop for lunch while we were on our way here," he told them evenly, though he was actually grateful that the younger woman had because with everything that was happening, he needed a few minutes to sit down and gather his bearings, especially before being placed on the front lines of first contact once again.

Everyone stood to make introductions before sitting down with cups of coffee.

"You are certain that they are alright," Thor grilled Darcy.

Darcy actually blushed a little and frowned to cover whatever expression she might otherwise make at the memory of the blue-skinned couple being so intimate.

"What's the matter? Please, we only want to know the truth" Sif pressed but with a more gently affected tone that Thor was capable of.

"N-Nothing's the matter." Darcy looked back and forth between them and the agents standing a few feet away. Before either side could bother to encourage her again, she blurted out, "I saw them screwing in the snow."

"What?" Sif gasped.

"I was in the room when you talked to Loki and Miri," she told them, "I saw the video feed of them while you spoke. I think I can safely say that they are just fine and want nothing more than to be left alone."

Thor rolled his eyes but gave her a warm clap on the shoulder just the same. "Thank you, little one, for you service," he said earnestly. From what he'd gathered, Darcy had likely gotten the worst end of the deal, or at least as bad as Myrkr, when it was all said and done. He also appreciated that she wasn't going to spell out for everyone just what she'd seen of his brother and sister-in-law's private moment.

"And you," Sif continued, "I know it doesn't mean much now, but I assure you that Loki would not have harmed you," she asserted, though she didn't really feel that in one hundred percent of her heart. She didn't really have a grasp on how deeply Loki cared for his wife, but she did know that he was very dangerous when he was cornered.

"I knew he wasn't going to hurt me," Darcy said with a shrug before slurping up the rest of her coffee. "He was scared. People do crazy things when their loved ones are in trouble," she reasoned. She hadn't intended to make eye contact with Thor during that statement, but when she did, she could see an almost unspeakable relief in his eyes.

As they talked, SHIELD agents filed in and out of the building, setting up and reassembling all of Jane and Erik's equipment. When she was given the opportunity to go over it all later, she noticed that there had actually been a few additions to what she already had.

"Thank you so much," Jane said to Darcy as they went over Jane's files to make sure there weren't any surprises in there too.

"It was nothing. I didn't really do anything," she muttered. "I just went for a really long ride with a bunch of creepy strangers," she joked. "Besides, it's probably the most I've been able to contribute to your work," she lamented.

Jane sighed and turned to her young friend. "I'm glad you're back. I know that I might get a bit annoyed with some of the things you do sometimes, and you don't really understand a lot of what we're doing out here, but you're my friend. You and me and Erik, we're like a little family out here," she tried to convey just how much she had come to care for her, but she wasn't very good at expressing her feelings in words. This was especially true because the whole experience made her realize that Darcy's internship wasn't going to last forever and with no practical reason to keep her involved in her research, Jane would have to let her go with little chance of actually seeing her again. The idea hit her harder than she was expecting.

"Whoah, don't go getting all sentimental on me," Darcy chided because Jane's awkward sincerity was making her uncomfortable. "It's fine. Everything's worked out," she assured, but then a roaring laughter erupted from the other room. It wasn't hard to guess that it was Thor. "Right?" she added, a bit of anxiety slipping into her voice.

Jane gave a little nod that said she was having similar hopes but she wasn't going to let down her guard just yet. "At least the experience wasn't too traumatic," she reasoned hopefully.

"Yeah, for the most part," Darcy muttered.

"What happened?" Jane pressed anxiously.

"Nothing really, but it's one of those experiences that sort of changes you, I think," she began.

"How do you mean?" Jane asked, now a little worried.

"We've talked about aliens before, about how similar or different they could be compared to us," she said with a sigh. "One minute everything about them is completely different: blue skin, magic, space travel without a vehicle," she listed. "Then, you see the way they look at or touch each other, they flirt and tease or get angry or worried, and they seem so human."

Jane gave a sad little smile. "Yeah, I see what you mean," she said, throwing a cautious glance in the general direction of the commotion in the other room.

When they rejoined the others, Thor was just finishing up one of his favorite hunting stories. He was so happy to have a new set of ears to tell it to that there was no way he could pass up the opportunity.

The following morning over breakfast, Darcy had more questions for Thor and Sif.

"Do either of you turn blue?" she asked after awkwardly staring at them for nearly a full minute.

Thor grew a little worried at just how much this random human seemed to know about his brother.

Sif laughed. "I'm afraid not. Neither of us has much of a knack for magic."

"So when Loki changes to blue, it's because it's magic and he can go back to normal whenever it wants," Darcy tried to clarify.

Thor's frown deepened.

"That is the general idea," Sif replied.

"But Miri can't do magic like that," Darcy said, looking to Sif for confirmation.

"That's right. She has magic of her own, but it is not of the same variety, and she's from-" Sif began but Thor cut her off.

"I think we've said enough for now," he said sternly.

Sif noticed that discussions like these had always bothered him, but she couldn't ever pin down precisely why. Sometimes, it seemed Thor was concerned for the general tone of the conversation, other times he gave off a protective air. Whenever any one of lower rank would say anything related to what they were talking about now, he would immediately shut them down, reminding them that it was not their place to discuss the habits of a prince and his princess. Sif had started to think that it was his way of trying to illustrate to others that it was a non-issue in the hope that they would focus less on the fact that Loki, once quite the playboy, was in an interracial marriage. Now she wasn't so sure. "These people don't know our culture or politics. They are simply interested in the facts of the matter, not what they imply," she tried.

"They have enough facts without taking them from our personal lives. Would you like to share with these hospitable strangers what you do when you are alone with someone else?" he proposed irritably. He was beginning to wish he'd come by himself. Even if humans somehow divined his brother's true linage, they had no influence in Asgard, but he wasn't sure how Sif would react to that, which as far as he could see, was how conversations like these ended.

Sif blushed angrily. "That's not what we're talking about," she scolded.

"Yes it is," Darcy chirped. "He didn't change to blue until after he landed on the snow with her, and I sort of got the impression that they were pretty busy down there," she crudely joked. "Does he do it for her or because of the cold?"

Thor was about to answer, but Sif replied, "Both," before he could get the chance, so he offered only a slight nod of agreement. The way she understood it, a Jotun body was good to have in extreme cold, but since Asgard's weather was generally so mild, he shouldn't have needed to change his form for survival reasons.

Darcy couldn't help smiling. "That's really sweet," she sighed.

"Sweet?" Thor repeated carefully.

"Yeah, I mean, I'm sort of getting the impression that she's the odd one out a lot of the time. It's sweet that he'd change to be like her when he could," she reasoned.

Sif wanted to agree, but she had gotten the impression that Loki changed forms for sex and little else. "Well-"

Thor could see that his friend was about to say something less than proper about their friends. She always got the most peculiar blush on the tips of her ears whenever she was talking or thinking about risque topics. He usually only saw that reaction when they were all sitting around, drinking, and telling bawdy stories, or occasionally when she had a piece of gossip she thought might be worth sharing. "Sif," he said, giving her a stern look.

"What?" she tried not to snap.

"I think that's enough. You needn't be talking about them like this," he asserted.

Darcy gave Sif a look that asked if she was going to abide by that assertion. It was that look that almost started an argument between the two Asgardians. If Thor hadn't left the room a moment later, they probably would have ended up shouting at each other. He had never been so rude as to tell her what she could or couldn't talk about, but then again, he'd never been in a position where he found her dialogue improper, possibly even dangerous.

Sif and Darcy talked for a short while after that until they heard Thor leave the building, at which point Sif excused herself to go out after him.

"Where are you going?" she asked anxiously.

Thor rolled his eyes. "Nowhere. I was simply growing tired of sitting in those small rooms listening to hens cackle and came outside for a bit of fresh air and some peace and quiet," he sniped irritably.

Sif shook her head in astonishment. "Why won't you tell me what's the matter?"

"I already told you," he replied. "Or were you too busy telling a stranger about my brother's personal life to hear what I said?"

"I'm fairly certain he's not going to care, so why do you?" she tried.

"How can you say he wouldn't care? What kind of decent person wouldn't care?" he asked. As uncomfortable as their little argument was making him, Thor felt reasonably confident that the stance he choose to defend was going to get him his desired result without having to reveal his true motivations right up until Sif dropped some knowledge on him.

"I don't know if you're aware of this, but your brother has a reputation, especially here in Midgard," she pointed out.

"What do you mean a reputation?" he growled.

"That Erik fellow showed me a book of stories. All the stories were about you, your father, Loki, all of us. These people, they remember us, at least in some small way. They remember that your father is a wise and powerful king. They remember that you are the God of Thunder, a mighty warrior who can slay foes with one swing of his magical hammer. And they remember that your brother is sly, clever, cunning, and has an insatiable sex drive. I think half the stories they have about him involve sex in some way. Someone was going to bring it up eventually, so I tried to do it so that we could have some level of control over that conversation," she reasoned bluntly.

"Sif," Thor sighed. "Alright, I will admit that Loki and Myrkr's proprietary isn't my primary concern," he began.

"Good," she nodded. "So what is?"

He gave her a guilty glance before saying, "I need you to trust me on this one. I need you to let this go," he nearly begged.

That took her aback. It was rare that Thor kept secrets, but when he did, it was usually for Loki, and it was now apparent to Sif that was exactly what was happening. Having this revelation made her want to ask even more questions, but she could tell by the look on the blonde prince's face that he would not yield in that regard. "I trust you, and I will let this go," she finally said, but then added, "for now."

Thor gave her a pleading look.

"Trust goes both ways. I'll do what you ask now, but you owe me an explanation, and if you don't give me one, then I'll confront Loki about why you're acting so strangely," she threatened, then she turned and went back inside.

"Is everything alright?" Jane asked when she saw the look on Sif's face.

"As good as to be expected," she sighed, looking back the direction she came. "Thor does not like to sit around and wait for things."

"Do you know how long they'll be?" Jane asked, half out of curiosity and half out of concern for how long she would have to share her home.

"We don't," she muttered. Upon seeing the slight dismay on her host's features, she said, "If we don't hear from him in another day or so, may we use your communication device to contact Loki and Myrkr and see if we can't speed things along?"

Thor and Sif had discussed simply calling for Heimdal to open the Bifrost and going home. Now that they knew the other couple was safe, they had no real reason to linger on Earth. At least Sif didn't think so until Thor said he would prefer to stay to give his dad some time calm down, as the King was probably annoyed at them running off like that. She would likely be praised by the queen for keeping her son from getting into too much trouble, but Thor would receive his father's full wrath, whatever that might entail.

That evening after dinner, Thor and Sif went for a walk under the stars. They hiked for nearly two hours before laying down on the dusty ground to watch the moon pass overhead. During this, they didn't talk much, but that wasn't unusual. Sif was the only person Thor really felt comfortable being quiet with. There was something soothing to him about her presence that made words almost completely unnecessary.

"Thor," she finally said, sitting up a bit to look at his face. "Please, tell me what's going on."

He pursed his lips and looked away. He had brought her away from everyone and everything to have this conversation, but he still felt really guilty to be even considering telling her in the first place. "Those stories that you were talking about," he began. It was a bit of a tangent, but he needed to get a feel for her mood.

"What about them?" she replied, happy that Thor seemed more communicative than before.

"Were the ones about Loki really that bad?" he asked with a slight wince.

Sif gave him a placating little smile. "You remember how he was back then, back when we used to come to this little world."

"Both Loki and Earth have changed a lot since then," he asserted bitterly.

"And I might have exaggerated a little when I said half his stories were like that. It's not quite that many, but it was definitely an ongoing theme," she admitted, "and it's not unjustified."

"You know, he hasn't been with anyone else since he met Myrkr," he said.

"I should hope not," Sif stiffly replied. "Even if it was an arranged marriage, he is wise to accept the responsibilities of their union."

"There's more to it than that. I don't know if you noticed, but in spite of how they used to behave, it didn't take them very long for a genuine affection to develop between them," he told her.

"What are you getting at?" Sif impatiently pressed.

"Loki and Myrkr are bonded by love now, but before that there was something else that made them grow close enough for that," he tried.

"A secret," Sif said softly as things started to make a little more sense. "A secret that you also share in?" she asked knowingly.

"I wouldn't know of it if he wasn't my brother," he insisted, then something occurred to him, a way that he could at least partially justify sharing what he knew with someone else. "Sif, do you love me?"

She glared at him. "You know I do."

"Do you think that we might get married someday?" he pressed hopefully.

"To each other?" she awkwardly replied.

"Of course to each other," Thor answered with a nod.

"I'd be lying if I said it was not something I've thought about," she managed.

"Because I've thought about it, quite a lot actually," he admitted.

Sif shifted uncomfortably. "What's this got to do with Loki and Myrkr?"

"It's a family secret. If you had intentions of joining our family, it would help me justify telling you," he reasoned.

"Oh, I suppose that makes sense," she barely replied. She was about to tell him that perhaps it would be better if she not know whatever it was that had been bothering him so much, but he spoke before she could.

"Loki is not of Asgard," he said, his stomach clenching with anxiety.

Sif eyed him incredulously. "Then where is he from?" she asked. She had pretty good idea, but she didn't want to guess.

"Odin found him abandoned in the ruins of Jotunheim toward the end of the last great battle of the war between our worlds. He took pity on an orphaned Jotun baby and that baby became my little brother," he explained. "I was too young to remember it. Our parents told us shortly after their engagement was officially announced."

"So you never knew? How could your brother be a frost giant and you not suspect a thing?" she scolded.

"Neither of us knew, and there had never been any reason to question his origin. He was so angry when Father told him the truth," he lamented.

"And you?" she prompted.

Thor shrugged. "I didn't care. He's my brother. I love him no matter where he's from." He chuckled. "I told him once that it would take more than a pair of beady red eyes to make me consider him anything other than family."

Sif nodded thoughtfully.

"You will not share this with anyone, not at all, not ever," he insisted.

"Why didn't he come out after Odin told him the truth? Why continue the lie?" she suddenly asked.

"He will eventually be forced to, of that I am almost certain, and while he is angry with our father for keeping such a big secret from him for so long, Loki is unwilling to share that part of himself for fear of how others will react," he sighed again, "and rightfully so. Keeping this secret is the right thing to do for now."

"I won't be able to look at Loki the same way anymore," Sif informed sadly. She knew that would disappoint Thor, but she had to be honest with him.

"Don't make that kind of determination so quickly," he scolded. "He hasn't changed. Your perception of him has."

"If he wants to keep it a secret, he shouldn't let anybody see him like that," she lectured.

Thor frowned. "Promise me that you won't breathe a word of this to anyone," he tried again.

"I promise, and I will do what I can to help this stay secret," she vowed.

Thor nodded curtly, then a small smirk broke crept onto his lips. "To be fair, the only times he changes forms are when he thinks they are alone and do not expect to be interrupted, and you never suspected him of anything until I had to go and lose my temper earlier." Thor grumbled with regret. "They're both going to be very upset with me," he understated.

"They'll understand," she assured.

"I interrupted their first real vacation together, drew even greater suspicion to them, and gave away their potentially damning secret. They will be angry. Actually," he gave a self conscious chuckle, "Now that I think about it, I'm more worried about them than Father," he confessed.

Sif laughed a little as well and let the matter drop after once more promising to keep what he told her to herself.


	31. Normal

Meanwhile, at the bottom of the world, Loki and Myrkr behaved as though they didn't have a care in the world. It was freedom at its finest, and there was no way they were going to waste even a single second.

Myrkr woke up with her body tangled with that of her husband. She wondered how long they'd been sleeping. It was difficult to tell, but it had steadily gotten darker. When Loki shifted a little beside her, she looked up at his face. She had been hoping to see the boyishly innocent face that he happened to wear when he was sleeping particularly well, which was why she gave a little gasp when she was so suddenly faced with his discerning eyes peering at her with unusually intense interest.

"I didn't realize you were awake," she barely muttered.

"I was enjoying watching you sleep," he replied easily.

This wasn't the first time he'd said something like that to her, but usually he sounded lazy, sedated, or half-asleep. She was so distracted by his behavior that by the time she realized he had been expecting her to reply, he'd already pulled her over to lay on top of him. The feeling of his cool, smooth skin and the sound of his evenly beating heart stole her words, so instead of trying to force a verbal acknowledgement, she opted instead to press her face against his chest while her hands gently traced the shape of his arms and sides.

Loki smiled and ran his fingers through her hair. He had gone to great lengths before their last lovemaking session to make sure it was completely untied because he wanted to see what she would look like with messy disheveled hair. As he expected, it was quite a lot of fun to help her make a mess of her usually perfectly done hair.

They laid like that for a long time before Myrkr heard Loki's heart skip a beat. "What are you thinking about?" she asked, taking his hand.

"Do you remember what you said to me the first time we played in the snow together?" he asked curiously.

A guilty frown played across her lips. "It was all so exciting that it's a bit of a blur," she confessed.

"You said that you wanted me to take you like a Jotun would," he reminded.

She blushed at the memory and turned her face into his chest to hide her expression. "It seems a bit silly now, doesn't it?" she muttered as she kissed the mark she'd left on his chest.

"Not at all," he scolded. "I thought you would have learned by now that I like it when you tell me what you desire."

"At the time, it seemed like you would never properly mount me and make me yours," she mused thoughtfully. "But you understand why I would hesitate to bring that sort of thing up. Even with as good as you had been, I had also come to notice that the men of Asgard don't take well to having their lovemaking approaches criticized."

"Yes, I understand. Even by then, you were still very careful, very guarded," he recalled.

"Why were you thinking about that anyway?" she finally asked.

"You mean aside from the fact that our last romp was decidedly reminiscent of that moment?" he teased.

"Yes, beside that," she muttered, kissing him again.

"I want you to pursue me as a Jotun would," he said, a slight titter in his voice.

Myrkr sat up a bit to look at him. He appeared earnest in his desire. "How do you know I haven't?" she carefully countered.

"Because you would have said something about it, as with everything else I've guessed right," he chided. The fact that she was so knowledgeable of Asgardian culture but he had been left in the dark about the ways of Jotunheim was one of the only frustrations he had with her. This was compounded by the fact that she rarely doled out cultural lessons. Instead, she preferred to wait until he did something that reminded her of home and use those things as object lessons.

"You have me do it all the time," she guiltily replied.

He was as intrigued as he was disappointed with her answer. He wondered if it was something instinctive that seemed so natural that he didn't give it a second thought or if she had for some reason been keeping that idea from him. "You know probably better than anyone, that I do not have the same lothing for Jotunheim and everything associated with it that I used to. I don't think it's fair to keep from me when something significant is happening and I lack the cultural vantage point to understand it."

"It was hard to talk about," she sighed. "I knew the reason you were so insistent on having me on top, the reason you teased me senseless before even really proposing sex, was that you were being careful. Whenever possible, you gave me as much power over our situation as you could because you were scared of hurting me. You were worried about triggering me somehow. I understand that was why you would hardly ever lay down on top of me or why it took you so long to take me from behind, so please understand that I wasn't ready to tell you what that sort of thing meant."

Loki pursed his lips. He had not been hoping for a deep discussion. His original plan was to get her to seduce him in a different manner than usual. "And after that?"

"You're an observant person. I reasoned that with as much time as you spent socializing while we were on Jotunheim that you had either seen or been told about it," she answered. "I would be very surprised if your little hunting party didn't talk about sex once while you were out with them," she told him. When she had first heard of that habit, she laughed it off as an incidental stereotype, but as time passed, she learned there was some truth to it.

"Yes, and they were mostly concerned that I was hurting you when we coupled so we didn't really get to talk about much else," he chidingly replied. "Look, none of that is important. I was only hoping you knew another way we could fool around."

"Why? Are you bored?" she asked in a tight little voice.

Loki had a feeling that was coming, so he had his response partially ready. He grabbed her by the arms and pulled her up to face him. "Please don't ever mistake my adventurous nature and fetish for novelty for a sweeping boredom with things as they are. I don't want to just do new things. I want to do them with you. More importantly, I want you to show me a side of yourself that I rarely, if ever, get to see," he told her in a soft, even voice.

Myrkr shuddered and clawed at his shoulders for a moment before giving in and smiling a bit at him. "Husband," she began but he cut her off.

"No, I'm not your husband," he playfully countered.

She cocked an incredulous eyebrow. "Then who are you?"

He gave a cocky smirk. "I'm your Jotun lover and you are determined to have me in any way you see fit," he asserted with an obvious excitement in his tone.

Myrkr's lips trembled into a small smile. "I've never done anything like that before," she reminded.

"I have faith in you," he crooned as he grabbed her hips and moved her out of his lap. "Just tell me what someone in my situation would do, and we can play this out together," he urged.

She gave him a weird look. "Stuff like this isn't exactly scripted, like it would be in Asgard," she added self-consciously. "It's not like there's a ton of protocol. You just do what you want," she shrugged.

"Please, tell me what you'd rather," he proposed.

"This is silly. Like I said, you've already had me do it," she tried to dissuade.

Loki gave an exasperated sigh. "That's not the same and you know it."

She had a hunch he would feel that way about it. "Alright," she nodded and stood. He was about to stand as well, but she made a motion that urged him not to.

So Loki stayed put while Myrkr got up and as she paced around him, she gathered bits of snow and ice into her hands. He couldn't tell quite what she was doing with it, but he could see that it wasn't just an idle habit.

"Let me get this straight," she said, leveling as sure of a stare at him as she could. "You want to pretend like we're a couple of average Jotuns."

He hadn't really thought about it that way, but he found it to be a reasonable assessment. "Or we could call it one of your cultural lessons," he teased. "Whatever you'd prefer."

She smiled and stopped what she was doing. After a moment to examine what she'd made, she went back to add a couple of details and flourishes. Loki was just about to ask what she was making when she said, "You know what one of my favorite things is about you?"

The impish look in her eyes made him sit up a little straighter. "That list is longer than either of us ever expected," he replied. "So what is it this time?" he prompted with a playfully cocky grin.

She shook her head in exasperation. It was remarks like those that reminded Myrkr that if she hadn't fallen in love with Loki, she would most surely have hated him. "I always get a kick out of how easily you can rile up everyone around you. I swear sometimes you only need enter a room and-" she said with a smile until he finished her sentence for her.

"Chaos ensues," he said surely. "It is very kind of you to accept that as part of my nature. What is less kind is when you allow your mischief to be mistaken for mine, and I end up getting told off for it," he dramatically complained.

"Oh, that's only happened a couple of times, and I did it to show you how closely I had been paying attention to you," she quickly replied, which made his smile grow even wider. Then, before Loki could deliver his retort, she turned to him and showed him what she had been working on.

She held out her hands, revealing the object floating just above her palms, took a deep breath, and slowly blew it toward him. Her smile grew when he caught it with ease, holding it up to his face for examination.

There was a small round area at the bottom from which wispy tendrils formed roughly the shape of an umbrella. "There are seeds that look like this on Asgard," he noted.

"Back home, there are living creatures. You don't even know they're around half the time, but they travel in great swarms that are easily disturbed," she informed. "They don't come near the cities anymore, but to see a large group in flight is actually quite spectacular." Then, without warning she gave a quick turn and raised her arms.

Loki gasped when the snow around them erupted into a light cloud of the little creatures. He was so surprised that it took him a moment to realize that they weren't real, but rather snow constructs of her design. His awe of her display distracted him so thoroughly that he didn't realize she'd moved until she was sitting in his lap. With a flick of her wrist, they dissipated and they were kissing.

He gasped again when she tangled both hands in his hair and gave a good, solid tug. Nothing too hard, but enough to remove any doubt as to whether it was intentional. He gave a small sound of dissatisfaction when she broke their kiss to start dragging her lips over to his ear. "How is your ice magic these days?" she asked in a husky voice.

The sensual vibration that her near-whisper sent through him made it so that it took him a moment to process her words. "Fair, I suppose. Not as good as yours, I'd wager." The next thing he knew, she was out of his lap and standing before him once again.

"Get up," she urged.

"What for? Every time we try to make lover standing up, you topple us over," he taunted.

"Get up," she repeated, this time with less patience.

He almost challenged her again, but he was curious enough about what she had in store for him that he stood up and brushed himself off with little more than a grumble.

"Thank you. Now, do as I do," she told him. Then, with one swift motion she flung an ice ball straight ahead. It went a fair distance before falling to the ground.

He gave her a curious look before doing the same.

She nodded. "Not bad."

"What do you mean, not bad? That was at least as good as yours," he boasted.

"It was close enough to what I asked for. Here," she said as she turned and with another couple of casual hand motions, she created three pillars of ice at varying distances. "Try it now."

He got the farthest one easily enough, then the middle one, but when it came to the closest block, it moved at the last second, causing him to miss by a small margin. "That was hardly fair. What is the point of this?" he impatiently inquired.

"You were hitting the still targets well enough, I thought I'd give you a bit of a challenge. And the point of this is that you are very bad at snowball fights," she impishly replied.

"I'm very bad at what?" he gasped indignantly. "I'll have you know that although I didn't spend my entire life surrounded by snow, I have won nearly every snowball fight I've ever been in," he boasted.

"Granted, you are better than your brother and his friends, but you only ever beat me when it devolves into a wrestling match," she conceded. "Though considering your usual competition, it's not really surprising." When she saw that he didn't quite get the depth of the exercise, she added, "Being able to hold ones own in a snowball fight is essential when you're from an ice planet," she told him, her tone playfully serious. "On top of that, it was one of the few things that I wasn't categorically excluded from."

That made him smile. "Alright then. What am I doing wrong? Show me how it's done."

Myrkr smiled back. "Pull your arm back to the peak of the motion," she requested.

He complied and froze in position. "Like this?"

She walked up behind him and gently ran her hands over his shoulders, then his arms, and finally down his torso. She stopped just above his navel before backing off. "You're too relaxed. Too loose. The ice is not a fluid anymore. You can't move it like you can the water, my dear wetling," she advised.

He tightened his stance while she fixed the angle of his arm.

"With the curve in your toss, this angle would be better for a body shot," she told him as she gently shifted his fingers into an almost awkward but potentially more powerful grip.

"Curve?" he scoffed. "My throw-" he was about to argue, but she cut him off.

"Is curved, and that's just fine. I know you can throw straighter if you need to," she encouraged. "Try again."

Loki sighed and did as she told him. The farthest target remained still, but the front two moved this time, making him miss the middle target, but he recovered well enough to hit the closest one. He muttered a curse at the error before turning to her to say, "That is quite a bit better." Then he smirked. "Just to be sure, could you show me again?" he proposed with a lecherous glint in his eyes.

Myrkr nodded and moved up beside him. "Watch closely," she said, throwing a wink over her shoulder as she took in a deep breath and reeled back, stopping just at the apex of her swing.

When she froze in place, Loki moved up behind her, doing as she had done by running his hands over her upper body, though his touches were a bit more sensual. He casually brushed the sides of her breasts before moving downward to test the firmness of her hips and thighs. "That is quite an impressive stance," he nearly purred into her ear.

"Stand back," she requested.

With a sigh, Loki took several paces away from her. Before he could impatiently cross his arms, she made her throw, then another with her off hand to hit the second target. A mischievous grin spread across his face and with a few waves of his hands, all three targets moved.

Myrkr laughed and kept throwing, hitting each one without missing a beat, though there were a couple where she nearly missed. Then, with a sly little grin, she turned and started throwing them at him. He barely deflected the first couple of shots before finding his rhythm and continuing dodge and deflect everything that came at him.

"Are you feeling it yet?" she asked curiously when she finally stopped.

"Feeling what?" he breathlessly countered. If she meant the feeling like he wanted to knock her down and kiss her, then yes, he felt that very strongly.

She gave him an odd look. "I could have sworn you were doing it," she muttered. After a thoughtful silence, she decided. "Your turn, and I'm standing behind you. No peeking!" she warned.

"What sort of feeling am I looking for, exactly?" he tried as she walked around behind him.

She didn't want to tell him, but at this point it was probably easier. "I think the reason you were able to defend yourself so well against me is that you can read my body language like an open book. That's not necessarily bad, but that's not what I'm going for. Focus instead on the ice." She held up a handful between them. "There is more of it around here than what you hold in your hand," she advised.

Loki smiled, "Of course." He had theorized about just how evolved the Jotuns' elemental sympathies were. Because of lack of evidence to the contrary, he assumed that they had a natural aptitude for it that was nurtured throughout life. She seemed to think it was inherent enough that he would be able to do it regardless of training.

It actually took him a little while to get the hang of tapping into the cold and using it as a medium for a sort of echolocation, but once it clicked, he was practically perfect. It only took him another moment after that to realize that he could change his frozen projectiles in flight as well. And it didn't take long for that confidence to build to a point where he felt comfortable with starting to make his throws over his shoulder at her.

She easily caught them. "Loki, we're not going to fight," she asserted.

"After teaching me how to fight properly, you don't want to let me play? That is most cruel," he complained with feigned petulance, even going so far as to make another couple of quick tosses in her direction before she was standing right in front of him.

"Save it for another time," she nearly crooned as she ran her hands over his firm chest.

"Perhaps you'd care to wrestle then? You mentioned earlier that was how I usually won our little matches. Would you like some pointers?" he taunted.

"No, sweetie, just lay down," she said softly and the next thing he knew he was on his back with her laying on top of him.

He gasped a little in surprise but ended up groaning a moment later at the feeling of her icy finger tracing the raised patterns on his chest. He looked down to find her looking back at him, her finger never ceasing in its movements, making him realize that she was tracing them by memory, a thought that compelled him to grab her and pull her up for a passionate kiss.

Myrkr easily gave into the affection and moved her tracing finger lower. Again, she forced eye contact to see how he would react to her light touch across the ticklish plane of his stomach. To her delight, he flinched only once. All of his other reactions urged her to continue until she reached his turgid manhood.

The second she stopped, he blurted out, "Please, touch it." It was rare that he spoke without thinking, even in the heat of the moment, and his unmanaged reaction made him blush with embarrassment.

Just when he'd turned a lovely dark blue but before he could make some kind of amendment to his request, she resumed her tracing and couldn't help giggling a little when the twitching and jerking it caused made her task significantly more difficult.

He was about to apologize for his lack of control, but she gave up on that more delicate work in favor of a more direct approach. She grabbed him in her hand and gave him a good squeeze, receiving a muffled little grunt in response.

"Darling," he gasped.

"Yes?" she crooned as she watched him swell just a little more in her grasp.

"Is this supposed to feel like the most torturous teasing ever?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"Normally, by now, you'd be inside me," she said with an impish smile. "You know, I used to be the impatient one."

"That's not what I meant," he scolded. He was about to clarify that what he was really wondering was if she was intentionally teasing him or if he was in the wrong mindset, like he had been during the target practice a short time ago, but she cut him off by starting to firmly pump his erection. Because it was apparent that she wasn't going to let him speak, he tried to focus his mind enough to see if his hunch was correct.

He was just about focused when her tongue started tracing the patterns on his chest, this time starting from the opposite side. Loki groaned, and his head fell back. At some point, his hands found her hair, and he was able to pull her up for a kiss again. She happily obliged right up until his hands found her breasts. She had to put a stop to that, or she would lose control before he did. She was too sensitive there, and his favorite methods for teasing her nipples were muscle memory.

"Aw, but you love that," he pouted as she laced their fingers together so that they were holding hands palm to palm.

"I do, but you will have to settle for looking rather than touching this time," she taunted, and when he gave her a challenging look in response and tried to twist out of her grip, she sat down on his cock, using her weight to pin it down against the flat of his stomach, before starting to roll her hips in little circles.

That sensation made him forget what he was doing and return her grip rather than try to fight it. He was about to make some kind of vain, though cheeky, protest when he finally made eye contact with her. She seemed so pleased with herself, if the proudly lecherous little smirk she wore was anything to go by, that he just gave in.

"Yessss..." he groaned as he started gently rocking his hips against her.

"Mmmm," she moaned softly in response to his efforts, her eyes glazing over a bit.

"Better than that glass toy?" he prompted hopefully, earning a most delightful blush from her.

She hadn't even realized that what she was doing now and what she showed him of her private activities were strikingly similar. "Much better," she sheepishly replied.

"Well, go on then," he urged hopefully, using his hips to help her establish a more insistent rhythm.

She almost followed his urgings, but somehow managed enough sense to push back. "I'm afraid not," she said as she pushed him down and held him flat with just the right twist of her hips.

"Oh, but Darling, it would be exquisite!" he raved.

Myrkr laughed and shook her head. "If just that small taste is any indicator, you are probably right, but..." she paused and looked around before leaning down. She pinned his hands to either side of his head and whispered into his ear, "That wouldn't exactly be proper though. That sort of thing's not normal."

Loki cocked his head and forced a little smile, though even that spoke of eager impatience. "There's no one around to judge."

"But that's not what you wanted. This new request is not one an average Jotun male would make in your position," she lectured.

Loki gnawed the inside of his cheek. She was right, but it was so hard to resist. "Then, my dear, what do I need to do to get you to ride me?" he prompted with hopeful anxiety.

She considered him for a moment. "You need to present yourself. It's our form of consent, given by the pursued party before intercourse. In that context, it's you who've teased me. You're leading me on and begging for more, but have yet to give me permission to do the one thing we both want the very most," she playfully teased.

His first reaction was to glare at her. They both knew that he if had been aware of such a requirement, he would have fulfilled it a dozen times over by now. Then he realized that she'd taken the opportunity he'd given her to not only teach him about their homeworld but also give him a healthy dose of culture shock, and he sort of appreciated what she'd done. He looked back on his previous entreats to her and realized that they were almost all verbal, something he knew had taken her quite some time to get used to. It had been one of the rare occasions where her inexperience had worked in their favor because her expectations had been founded on something other than first hand encounters.

Loki was torn from that line of thought when Myrkr resumed her tracing of his raised markings, this time along his arms. It was only then that he realized that she'd let go of his hands. With the most decided confidence he'd ever shown, Loki grabbed her hips and sat her firmly down on his cock, the head eagerly pressed against her entrance. Then, with a look that dared her to question his conviction, he withdrew his hands and folded them behind his head. It was the clearest way he could think of to send his message.

Myrkr beamed at him and immediately got to work. All it took was another slight adjustment in the angle of her hips and the head of his cock was pushing into her. She slowly slid down until they were flush. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she looked down at Loki and wondered if he would be able to keep his hands off her until she was finished with him. At this point it didn't matter either way, but they were still folded behind his head, even if she could see signs that he was actually gripping his hair pretty hard to keep them there. A moment later, she put her hands on his chest to brace herself as she started a steady rhythm.

He forced a chuckle to help keep what little sense he had left just a bit longer. "After all that, I expected you to start slower," he taunted.

With a smirk, Myrkr's pace gradually slowed. She bit her lip and gave him a curious look as she got to the point where she was barely moving. He looked like he wanted to complain. When he was this excited, the only thing he wanted was a nice firm fuck, but this was different. Just before he growled in frustration, he realized that with her moving so slowly, he could feel everything. He could feel every little twitch of her womanhood as she worked around him, the slight sting of her black fingernails digging into his chest, and the light tickling feeling of her cold breath on his skin. He almost asked her why she'd never gone this slow before, but then it dawned on him that this level of sensitivity was a side effect of their extremely cold environment.

She kept rising and falling as slowly as she could for as long as she could before she gave into the urge to feverishly ride him. She came twice like that before her arms gave out, and she fell down on top of him. He was about to help her out by moving his hands to her hips to assist in maintaining her rhythm in this altered position, but she stopped him. Without thinking, she pinned his arms again as she moved to sink her teeth into his left pectoral, a short distance from his nipple.

Loki screamed as he writhed between the cold, hard body of his wife and the densely packed snow of the ground. He would have thought such a sensation would make him feel trapped, but he found that it was not only complete bliss, but he actually felt sort of safe enveloped in freezing ice like that.

When his vision finally cleared, he looked down at his wife, who was lazily licking the black ring of teeth marks that now decorated his chest. She smiled back up at him.

"Are we ourselves now again?" she asked curiously as she sat up.

He gave a tired chuckle. "For now," he conceded.

She nodded and rolled off of Loki to lay down beside him, but as soon as she did, she gasped.

"What's the matter, darling?" he lazily inquired.

"Am I dying?" she asked in a quavering voice.

Her tone brought back more of his sense, "I hope that's some kind of Jotun colloquial for having had amazing sex."

She laughed awkwardly. "Those lights," muttered as she vaguely motioned to the sky above them.

"The Aurora Australis, I believe the phenomenon is called," he mused. "It's been going for quite some time, but you were distracted so I didn't bother you with it."

"You see it too?" she anxiously inquired.

"Of course I do. It's a natural phenomenon in this region. I read about it on our way over here, while you were sleeping in my lap, and decided to keep it a secret to surprise you," he explained.

"Are you certain?" she pressed.

"What do you think it is?" he inquired curiously.

"Our people see lights when they are near death. I've never seen them before, but I've heard them described by those who passed on shortly after telling about them," she replied.

Loki nodded. "Well, I can assure you that you are quite alive," he said, rolling up onto his side and pulling her in for a kiss. Then, he tickled her for a bit before they settled in for a nap.


	32. Lord of Secrets

The interviews that Loki and Myrkr had to attend in exchange for the ride back to the Bifrost connection point were short only compared to the length of the ride itself. This was tolerated because neither of them had completely abolished the fear that SHIELD would do whatever they could to obtain information and would resort to less pleasant measures if diplomatic channels failed.

Once they were back in New Mexico, the couple thought that their journey was almost over. All that was left was rounding up Thor and Sif and making the trek through the desert to their connection point. They arrived in the mid-morning and made arrangements to stay at Jane's until the heat broke. The only reason she allowed them all to stay like that was Loki was the closest she'd come to an expert on the phenomenon she was studying, and she hoped to coax a bit more information out of him. SHIELD left behind Coulson and a handful of other agents, most of whom stayed out of sight unless called upon.

All of this would have felt like something of a relief if Loki hadn't recognized almost immediately from Thor's behavior that something was amiss. Sif's wary gaze helped to confirm that something had happened since they last spoke.

Loki gave his brother until that afternoon to tell him, but when that didn't happen, he invited Thor up to the roof so that they could speak in relative privacy. He took a moment to enclose them in a magical silence so that anyone more than a few feet away wouldn't be able to hear them.

Thor winced a little. He recognized that spell from times when his little brother was not only upset with him but wasn't inclined to pull any punches.

"What happened? What did you do?" Loki demanded angrily.

With a stern a face as he could manage, Thor said, "I told Sif the truth about your lineage. She was very close to discerning the truth on her own, and she will one day be part of our family so she has some right to know."

Loki scowled. "She is not family until you man up and marry her, and while she is clever, she would not have gotten as close without some help."

"She has promised not to tell anyone. She will keep this secret with us and guard it with her life," he vowed.

"Tch," Loki scoffed. "Like you did?" Then, with a sigh, he turned his back, "I can't believe you're going to be king of Asgard one day. You are nothing but a bumbling oaf with a big fat mouth!" he childishly complained.

Thor drew himself up. "As future king, I would expect my own brother not to doubt my judgment in this instance."

Loki threw a sneer over his shoulder. "In spite of Sif's tenuous friendship with Myrkr, she still loathes giants." He turned back around and cocked his head, getting a better read on his brother's posture. "I should erase her memories of it now and be done with this," he said haughtily, even venturing to take a couple of steps toward the door leading back into the building.

Thor's frown deepened and he instinctively stepped in front of Loki. "Don't you dare. You are going to trust her."

Loki seethed. "I wish I'd been allowed to purge your memories of what I really am. I begged for permission to do it, but Odin said no. He said I had to trust you, but you are the first one to betray that secret. How am I supposed to rest easily when I leave you alone for a few days and you tell your lady friend one of the biggest secrets the royal family has. I wish I could summon the Destroyer right now to beat some sense into you."

"Don't say things like that," Thor angrily pleaded. "You're being dramatic."

Loki made another dismissive sound as he tried to sidestep his brother. "I'm probably looking at this all wrong, aren't I?"

Thor nodded suspiciously. "Yes, you should consider Sif a sound ally in this pursuit rather than a detriment to it."

The dark-haired prince rolled his eyes. "I mean, the damage is done, right? I should focus my energy in another way," he baited.

Thor bit. "That would probably be best."

"You're right. I should go tell Sif something truly terrible about you to compensate for the damages you've inflicted upon me. As your brother, I've privileged information about the to-be-king," he taunted.

Thor paled a bit as he roughly grabbed his brother by the collar of his black t-shirt. The fabric was thinner than he was accustomed to and he ended up tearing it rather than using it to hold the other man. With a sound of frustration, he let go and took Loki's arm instead. "Please don't," he pleaded in a low voice.

Loki laughed. "I do have some fairly incriminating secrets of yours that I've been holding on to for special occasions," he continued. "I wonder which one would bother Sif the most?"

"Loki," Thor growled.

"Do you remember that time you were so drunk that you accidentally electrocuted a child with Mjolnir? You're lucky I saved him, luckier that he was too young to remember the incident," Loki lectured.

"Loki!" he snapped.

"Perhaps something a little more personal. Do you remember a couple hundred years ago, the time you married every virgin in a village in one night and had them feed you continuously until you passed out? That was so much fun to watch," the younger brother continued.

"LOKI!" Thor finally shouted, taking a firm hold on his brother and shaking him violently. "No, please. I know that none of those things even comes close to the secret I've been trusted to keep for you, but please don't."

After a few seconds, Loki was able to wiggle his way out of Thor's grasp. "I will. That's what I want. I want to tell her something absolutely awful about you, something you'd never want to admit to, and you will let me to compensate for the wrong you've done me, my wife, our entire family."

Thor looked away and grimace. "Fine, but then we are considered even, and we move forward cooperatively," he stipulated.

Loki gave an almost gleeful little sneer. "Fine," he agreed and dispelled the silence.

To Thor's dismay, Loki didn't immediately go to speak with Sif. Instead, he spent the rest of his time on Earth by Myrkr's side making sure she didn't overheat.

The drive out to the landing point was awkward but punctuated by Darcy's barrage of questions and observations. Jane and Erik were just happy that the end of this ordeal was in sight.

Darcy, Myrkr, Thor, and Sif stood back while Loki helped Jane and Erik setup and calibrate their equipment. Since he wasn't comfortable just doling out such advanced knowledge, but it was apparent that Jane wasn't going to let him alone about it, he compromised by agreeing to help her find the answers she sought. Coulson and the other SHIELD agents took notes of just about everything that was happening during this process.

Then, once everything was in place, Agent Coulson approached the four aliens. "Thank you for being so cooperative with us and I hope that we can move forward on good terms."

"Son of Coul," Thor said, placing a heavy hand on the smaller man's shoulder. "From this day forward, you may consider myself and my friends to be allies of your world."

The two couples stood in place and Thor called for Heimdal, who responded a moment later by bringing them all back go Asgard.

As they stepped out onto the bridge, Myrkr gave a sigh. She never realized just how much she had come to consider Asgard her home until she was away from it. On top of that, the heat wave had broken in their absence and while it was still rather warm, it was no longer unbearable.

As he observed her brief moment contentment and relief, Loki smiled, but only until he realized that Sif and Thor were staring at him for it. Then, he sneered at them and urged everyone to move along. They walked in pairs across the rainbow bridge. Thor wanted to take a moment to ask Loki if he had told Sif his secret yet, which he hadn't, leaving Myrkr to walk with Sif a few paces ahead of them.

"I'm very sorry about all this," Sif said to her blue-skinned friend.

"It's silly for you to apologize for something that wasn't your fault," Myrkr anxiously replied.

"You know I've promised to-" she tried but was cut off.

"I know. Thank you," Myrkr said with a slight nod.

"Then why won't you even look at me?" she finally asked.

"Because I'm terrified of you right now," the Jotun woman confessed.

"Look, it's going to take me a little while to get used to the idea, but I can keep it to myself. While the two of you were hiding your affectionate exchanges, I said nothing of what I understood to be the true nature of your relationship. I even went out of my way to keep the Idiots Three from letting it slip, so I think I deserve a little more confidence than this," she lectured.

Myrkr's frown deepened as she played with one of her braids. Darcy had spent the last two hours of their free time together combing out and putting up her hair. "It's because you're so conscientious that I'm scared. You are liked far better than I am. There are even a fair number of people, many of whom are members of the court and would prefer your company over mine or my husbands."

Sif did not appreciate what Myrkr was implying. "I would never try to blackmail you or Loki. That's absurd. I thought we were friends," she complained.

"No, not blackmail, just dropping hints for a few key people and seeing what happens. And we would be very good friends if you didn't consider me an exception for my race," she countered. "Do you know how often Thor looks at me and thinks 'Jotun' or 'giant' or anything like that?"

Sif gave her a weird look. "No, how often?" she prompted.

"Almost never," she asserted. "He thinks of me as a friend and as part of his family before anything else. Most importantly, he thinks of me as a person not some kind of other."

"How can you be sure?" the Asgardian woman critically questioned.

"Because I can hear it in his tone. I can see it in his eyes. There's a recognition there that almost everyone else here lacks. You still look at me like I'm a stranger sometimes. It pains me to see you look at anyone that way," she added darkly, shooting a quick backward glance at her husband, who was still having a great deal of fun messing with his older brother.

Sif had a slight chill rush over her skin, making her shoot an incredulous look at the blue woman beside her. "You think I could be that hateful? Just because you're different?"

"I don't know what you're capable of because I don't think you realize just how deep your prejudice against my people goes." Myrkr flatly replied. "I don't want to say that we were never really friends, but you have to understand that it's hard to become too deeply invested in someone who sees you as less than a person when the matter is anything other than superficial." She sighed wearily. "But, you hold up your end, and things will get back to normal more quickly. Then we can see where we stand."

They were met by the Warriors Three at the entrance to the Bifrost and told that they were to see the King and Queen immediately. The situation was discussed in private. Myrkr left that meeting feeling as though the matter had not really been resolved, but Loki assured her that leaving things as they were was their best option at that point.

He reminded her that they knew Odin wouldn't punish Sif for something that wasn't her fault, but offered instead a very stern warning to keep her promise. He said they should just be happy with Thor's punishment, which was more severe than Loki had been expecting. Odin temporarily stripped Thor of his power, a sort of Asgardian time-out, and gave him some time to think about what happened.

Over the next several weeks, Loki kept Thor entertained with trying to decide which of his brother's dirty secrets he should share with Sif, the love of his life, to truly test how much she loved him. Loki made his brother consider the different kinds of secrets there were: personal, financial, mundane, drunken, etc, and the different kinds of humiliation that went with each. After that, Loki spent most of their time trying to subtly pry more privileged information from Thor, a task that was becoming easier as the large blond grew more agitated.

"Loki, just pick one. I don't care anymore," he finally said one day as they sat at the fountain in the Queen's garden.

"How can you say you don't care? I could potentially tell the woman you love something that would make her want to have nothing to do with you," he warned playfully.

Thor groaned. Even if what he'd done wasn't that bad, Loki had the rhetorical skills to make it sound like the worst thing that ever happened. "I'm tired of thinking about it," he complained.

"Then perhaps I should stop tormenting you and actually do it," Loki mused. "Do you want me to tell you which item from your long list of things you don't want other people to know that I'll be sharing with the woman you want to eventually marry?" he taunted as he stood.

"I don't much see the point. It won't change how upset you make her," the older brother grumbled.

"It's your choice. I just thought you'd like to know in case she comes at you with some questions when I'm done speaking with her," Loki shrugged.

"Fine. What is it?" he reluctantly prompted

"After some lengthy consideration, I've decided to tell Sif simply this: that you have an attraction to my wife that isn't entirely proper," he stated, then paused to see his brother's reaction. He was particularly proud of himself because he had managed to find something that wasn't really damning but had the potential to bring enough doubt into Sif's mind that it could sabotage her relationship with the older prince. That statement also had the added bonus of not being the entire truth, but true enough that Thor would be hard pressed to deny it without making himself look worse.

Thor's frown deepened. "That's not true. If you're going to do this, at least stick to things I've actually done. Don't just make it up!"

"I'm not making it up," Loki sniped. "You're so deep in denial that you don't realize it."

They bickered for another few minutes before Loki went to find Sif. As luck would have it, she had been looking for him as well.

"Ah, Lady Sif, would you grant me the pleasure of your company for a short time. I would like to speak with you," Loki greeted with dramatic pleasantry.

Sif cocked an eyebrow and refused to take his arm but agreed to talk with him just the same. He led her into an empty meeting room and closed the door.

"Look, you don't have to check up on me. I remember my responsibilities," she asserted irritably.

Loki smiled. "I know you do. I'm not checking on you. You wanted to ask me something?" he prompted. Sure, he had something he wanted to say, but since she had been looking for him, he thought he should address that first.

Sif drew herself up. "What have you been telling Thor?"

Loki chuckled lightly. "My brother and I talk about many things, and he has been especially attached to me since having been stripped of his powers. Could you be more specific?"

The warrior woman shifted her weight and crossed her arms over her chest. "He's behaving strangely, and I don't think it's just because he's being made to play mortal for a while."

"What's he done that's so strange?" Loki curiously prompted.

"He's..." she hesitated. "Being much nicer to me than usual."

"Is that bad?" he laughed.

"It's alright, except I can tell it's not just because he has feelings for me. It's like he's doing it to make up for something that I don't know about," she reasoned.

Loki smiled again. "He and I made a deal. It's actually the reason I wanted to talk to you."

"What sort of deal? And what's it got to do with me?" she defensively questioned.

"After exercising his loose lips on Midgard, he and I had a nice talk about how he was going to make that up to me. It was ultimately decided that in exchange for the emotional trauma Myrkr and I have suffered at his hands, I was allowed to tell you one of his least flattering secrets," he explained.

"But you and I have hardly spoken since we all returned to Asgard," she said.

"I know, I've been having so much fun holding this over Thor's head that I've been putting off telling you anything," he laughed.

Sif tried not to laugh as well. "That's cruel," she managed.

Loki nodded. "For certain it is," he agreed gleefully. "But that game has gotten old and needs to be ended, so I found you. I apologize if freeing Thor from this constant anxiety causes him to stop being quite so nice to you," he teased.

She finally let herself laugh a little. "Thanks, but I'd rather him be less nice than nicer for the wrong reason. So spill it," she urged.

"It's so difficult to decide. I know so many interesting things about my brother," he hedged.

Sif gave him a dismissive look. "Thor has not gotten into nearly as many bad situations as you have. I highly doubt that any of his secrets are all that interesting," she reasoned.

"Then you would be surprised," Loki chuckled. "but not today. I've decided that I don't really need to tell you anything of dire consequence. I've had my fun, and there's no reason to burden you with yet another interesting fact that you cannot share."

Sif shifted awkwardly. "Alright, I guess we can go then," she took a step toward the door.

"I would like to tell you something, though," Loki said, making her stop in her tracks. "I'll tell you that if you really do love Thor, then you need make sure he knows it."

"I do love Thor, and I have done what I can to make sure he is certain of that," she asserted defensively.

"You didn't let me finish," he scolded. "You love Thor as he is now, a privileged prince with a good heart, and there is nothing wrong with that. But you know that's not who he will be forever. If you have any aversion to being queen one day, then you need to cut Thor loose because he needs someone who can work with him and actually help him when he ascends to the throne. Your childish misgivings have no place beside a king," he lectured.

Sif's expression hardened to hide just how deeply his assertions hit her. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because he loves you. He cares for you more than I think you deserve. If you hurt him, I will kill you," Loki replied seriously.

The dark-haired woman rolled her eyes. "That's very sweet. I don't think I've ever seen you so protective of your big brother," she teased.

Her light hearted tone made Loki's expression darken. "I mean it, and I won't think twice about it." The real reason for this confrontation was so that he could push Sif one way or the other. Either she would make the commitment to really being part of their family, bringing her closer to him and making her just that much easier to trust, or he would scare her off and her opinions would be less consequential to anyone who actually mattered once she was no longer so closely associated with Thor.

Sif forced her laughter to continue for a moment longer to show that she wasn't worried about his threat before she was finally allowed to leave.

"Also, if you could not stare at me quite so much," Loki said as they exited the room. "I realize it's because you're trying to imagine what I look like," he added quietly, "but it's a bit bothersome and people are starting to notice."

Sif glared a little but nodded just the same.

"You should look at it this way, if someone like me could live the life I have and not know, how different can we really be?" he tried just before they parted ways.

That actually struck a chord with Sif. Until then, she had tried to bury the feeling that she had been tricked by the royal family into believing that an enemy was actually one of them by having him live secretly in their midst. Loki's notion that if giants were really that different, then someone would have discovered him much sooner made her rethink that feeling of betrayal. There would have been something he did or some kind of incident that gave him away, but there hadn't been. His final question echoed in her mind for quite some time after that.

"From Mischief Man to Match Maker," Myrkr scoffed when he returned to their chambers and told her about his day. "What's next?"

He gave her an odd look. "Why are you cross about this? It's funny," he insisted.

She pursed her lips and looked out the window. "I'm not cross, but to have them both running around like fools for so long," she sighed. "They aren't going to be happy once they've sorted everything out and realize that you were only toying with them."

"It's their own fault if they behave foolishly. Besides," he said as he moved up behind her, his complexion changing a little more with every step, "I think they will be too busy trying to build a serious relationship to bother much with us for a while."

The idea made Myrkr smile. "It would be nice to shift some attention away from ourselves for a while."

Loki sighed. "Our vacation getaway was supposed to have the bonus of getting us out sight for a while, and out of sight, out of mind, right? But the valiant efforts of some thwarted that as well."

Myrkr finally turned and hugged her husband. "I would like as few distractions as possible while we plan what is to be done when we go back to Jotunheim. It is quite a bit of time, but we will not be the only ones making plans."

He held her tightly and pressed his nose into her hair. "Everything will be fine, and a lot can happen between now and then. Who knows, maybe Laufey will anger someone else, or have some kind of accident," he grimmly joked.

"Last time, for the most part I just sort of made things up as they came along. I had not been allowed even adjacency to politics until I was brought to Asgard," she reminded him.

"I know," he said, taking a moment to close the window and lead her over to the bed. "But you've done very well so far. You may not have a lot of practice, but it's not like you're ignorant. You spent that time watching others, learning from observation. That requires a patience that most don't have the fortitude to master. Trust the insights you've gained from that habit, and you'll go far. I will help you practice, and you will be able to overcome anything," he promised.

His confidence made her heart soar. "Everything is going to be fine," she asserted as firmly as she could.

"That is exactly right," he said as he pulled her in for a kiss.


	33. Appropriate

There was one other thing on Myrkr's mind that needed to be taken care of before their return to Jotunheim for her second visit. She and the Queen had done quite a bit of planning for Loki's name day feast, and things were starting to come together.

"If you remember," Frigga said over lunch, "Loki's name day last year was honored only by a small gathering. It was so soon after the wedding that he didn't want to make a big deal about it."

"I remember," Myrkr nodded, then smiled. "I was so confused by the whole thing that I was actually quite grateful that it was such a small event. Now that I've seen everyone else here go through the tradition, I'm very excited to be part of it."

The Queen smiled back. "I wish you'd let us throw you a name day feast," she sighed, the look of a disapproving mother etched on her features.

The look went unnoticed by the Jotun woman sitting across from her. "We've been over this before. We have no such personal holiday on Jotunheim. I don't even know exactly what day of the year I was born. You'd be hard pressed to find a Jotun who does. We are told about what it was like during our births, and certain conditions are more memorable than others. We take time to appreciate when things are similar, but it's not something we hold feasts for."

Frigga sighed in exasperation. "Then, the next time it snows, I'm throwing you a party," she wryly joked.

Myrkr laughed but let it go at that.

"Do you have a present for Loki?" the Queen finally asked.

The Jotun woman blushed a little and looked down at her hands. "I felt very silly last year having to rely on you to provide a suitable present for my husband," she confessed.

"He understood and didn't think twice about it. Actually, I think he was more surprised that you cared so much about an event honoring him that you didn't really understand," Frigga eased. "Do you have a gift this year?" she pressed. "I know you said this was something you wanted to take care of yourself, but there's no shame in asking for even a little help."

Myrkr smiled. "Actually, I have an idea, but it seems...unconventional," she sheepishly replied.

Her mother-in-law perked up at that. "What is it?" she asked, revealing only a small fraction of her interest. She was hopeful, but she didn't want to get too excited just in case it wasn't a good idea.

"Well, I figured that getting gifts for him is pretty much impossible, right? So, I thought I could do something for him instead," she hopefully, eyeing the older woman across the table for her reaction so far.

Frigga nodded. "He can be quite difficult in that regard," she agreed. "What did you have in mind?"

Myrkr blushed a little. "I'd like to perform a dance for him."

The Queen cocked her head. "I had to arrange dancing lessons for you so that you could dance at your own wedding reception. You are more graceful than you used to be, but I'm not sure your skills are such that a performance of that nature wouldn't be the best idea," she tried. She wanted to be nice, but she also wanted to get her point across, and Myrkr always responded better when she was blunt with her.

The Jotun woman pursed her lips. "Please?" she finally asked.

Frigga was at a loss for words for a moment. She was used to being the one that her sons came to when they needed help with things like this, but they reacted very differently than this woman. The Queen couldn't remember a time when either of her boys had ever given her a simple 'please' to entreat her approval. "Take the next week or so to reconsider," was the best she could do.

"Thank you," Myrkr replied because she wasn't quite sure how to take that. It implied that she should look for another option, but it also gave her some room to adjust her original idea.

Myrkr met with the Queen a week later in one of the smaller performance halls of the castle. The Queen wasn't particularly happy about what that implied, but she wanted to give her daugher-in-law the benefit of the doubt.

Frigga entered and immediately noticed that the hall was much colder than the fourier and corridors outside.

"Shut the door, please," Myrkr called from up on the stage.

"What is the meaning of this?" the Queen questioned.

"I want to show you something. Sorry, I didn't think to tell you to bring a coat," she apologetically replied.

Pursing her lips, Frigga stepped forward. "Show me what?" She knew that her daughter-in-law would only go through the trouble of freezing an entire room if she really felt she needed to make a point.

"Ummm," she hesitated. Though the stage she was standing on was several feet higher than the floor the other woman was standing on, she felt tiny in her presence sometimes. This was one of those times. Any one would have felt anxious if they were being impatiently stared down by one of the most powerful people on the planet. "Here," she said, turning to one of the seats near the front middle. A moment later it was no longer frozen. "Please, have a seat," she urged.

Frigga accepted the welcoming gesture and sat down in the only warm seat in the room. "What's this all about?" she asked with an exasperated sigh.

"When we had lunch last week, you seemed...less than confident in my ability to perform, that my dancing was passable at best when I had someone else to lead me," she began.

"That's right, but it appears that you didn't heed my advice," she mused as she watched her breath form little puffs in the air before her.

"I want to show you what I can do. If you don't think it's good enough to be my gift to Loki, then I will let you help me find a more suitable present for him," she promised.

Frigga nodded. "Alright," she agreed, crossing her arms over her chest and sitting back in her seat.

Myrkr's heart skipped a beat. It suddenly occurred to her that the woman she was about to dance for had probably seen the best performers of her entire realm and possible a few others. However, she had one advantage. It was highly unlikely that the queen had never seen what she was about to do.

"Thank you," she said with a bow. Then she turned around and made a series of wide and slowly rhythmic motions with her hands.

Frigga sat up in her seat so that she could see what the other woman was doing. There was an area toward the back of the stage where the ice was shifting. Just as she was about to stand to further better her vantage point, she started to hear what sounded very similar to a xylophone. The Queen sat back down immediately when her daugher-in-law's movements started to change while the music continued.

What she witnessed next was probably the most graceful, though curious, dance she had ever seen. At it's core, Myrkr's movements reminded Frigga of ballet, but there was something more organic about her movements, which transitioned seamlessly between slow and heavy to quick and feathery. What made her dancing unique, or at least unique to Asgard, was the fact that she did it on a stage that was covered in an inch of perfectly smooth ice. She skated around, usually on her bare feet, though sometimes on her hands, sides, or knees.

About three minutes into this display, Frigga stood and called, "Enough!"

Myrkr froze in place and the music fell immediately silent. She slowly turned to face the woman who would judge the worthiness of her gift.

"How long did it take you to set all this up?" the Queen asked.

"A few hours," she shrugged.

"What if we found a larger venue? Say, maybe twice as much room? Something with a bigger stage and more seats in the audience," the older woman asked seriously.

Myrkr blinked stupidly. "Um, well, maybe about twice as long?" she barely managed.

"Of course. Why don't we go look at the one in the east wing?" she suggested, gathering up her dress and making her way toward the door because she had had quite enough of the cold

"Wait! I'm sorry, sometimes I still have a bit of trouble with Asgardian humor. Are you being sarcastic? If you disliked it that much, you should just tell me," Myrkr weakly protested as she scrambled to follow the older woman.

Frigga quirked an eyebrow. "My dear little giant, that was absolutely perfect," she said with a smile. "I understand now why our approach to dancing was so difficult for you, but when everyone sees how graceful you really are, they will love you so much more," she explained.

"Wait, everyone?" Myrkr nearly choked.

"Of course. That's why it was so important that what you did was at least entertaining. You present your gift to him at the dinner feast, where everyone can see just how firm and pure your bond to my son is," Frigga insisted.

Myrkr's mind reeled for a moment. Frigga was nearly around the corner before she caught back up with her. "No, no!" she pleaded. "It's just for him."

"Nonsense. There's no reason to be shy about it," the Queen dismissed. "Just do like you did for me, and it will be fantastic," she encouraged. "We'll get you some kind of bloomers or pants for you to wear so that you're not being indecent," she added offhandedly.

"No, please. I can't do that. It's more important than that," she quietly begged as they walked toward the east wing. When she saw that her desperation was having no effect, she stepped in front of her mother-in-law, queen or no queen, and said in a low, tremulous voice, "I won't let you marginalize me like that. I'm not some kind of package that you have to wrap up nice to sell, and even if that's all I am to you, then at least have the decency not to cheapen one of the few really precious things in my life."

Frigga was aghast. She roughly grabbed the Jotun woman by the arm and pulled her into one of the side rooms and locked the door. "You will never speak to me like that in public again!" she scolded angrily.

"I'm sorry, but I needed to say something. It didn't feel like it could wait," Myrkr explained as calmly as she could.

"Look, I realize how it looks. I could tell you put a lot of genuine emotion into your performance. Don't be afraid to show it. Our custom is to show an appreciation for someone who is willing to make a public display of their love. It's a chance for you to show that your people have an artistic and tender side and that the affection you show for the prince isn't superficial," she reasoned.

"You want an Asgardian-friendly Jotun spectacle, and I won't be party to it. If you really think it's something that needs to be shared, I will allow family only to observe from a distance," Myrkr insisted. "I agreed to give the final say over my gift choice because you are his mother, and as far as I can tell, you know him better than anyone. I trust your judgment when it comes to your sons likes and dislikes. It wasn't supposed to be an audition."

Frigga appeared to be considering that, but she didn't seem convinced.

Afraid that her mother-in-law was going to change tactics and throw her off, probably with some other kind of compromise, Myrkr said, "If nothing else, having a crowd will make it so that Loki doesn't enjoy it as much. After all, it is for him, and we both know how sensitive he is to showing affection in front of others."

The Queen frowned and cross her arms over her chest. "Well, you just have an answer for everything, don't you?"

Myrkr shifted awkwardly. "I just don't want to get exploited. Sorry for making every reasonable plea I can think of to get you to stop?" she sarcastically tried.

Frigga rolled her eyes. "The boys don't fight with me like this. They would have given up by now or at least stormed off in a huff by now," she complained.

"Well, you have a daughter now, and she is strong like you. Don't waste her strength on what we both know would essentially be perceived as parlor tricks when we both know there's a lot more to it than that," she advised. "I've done everything you've asked of me. Please don't reward my respect and loyalty with appropriation."

The older woman tapped her foot in irritation. "You've never had a problem with us using your Jotun peculiarities to win you favor before," she pointed out. "If anything, I should question your loyalty for your sudden unwillingness to cooperate."

Myrkr took a deep breath to steady herself. The little meeting room that Frigga had rushed them into was small and a bit muggy. "Have I ever once argued with you?" she asked evenly.

Frigga thought back on that. "Not that I recall."

"And any time that you ever asked anything of me, even the smallest, most mundane favors, like cooling your wine for you, have I ever once refused?" she pressed, her desperation slipping through again.

Again, the Queen considered. "No, not once. So why now?"

"I never felt comfortable with how you decided to ease people into liking me, but I didn't know any better, so I let you do it how you wanted. I am very fortunate that I could swallow what little bit of racial pride I had and bow to your method. It might have been a bit embarrassing for me from time to time, but it certainly has made it so that fewer people consider me a threat," she tried.

"I'm sorry if some of those things were difficult for you, but I'm glad you appreciate what I've done," Frigga conceded.

"Sometimes, though, I think I was better off when more people were scared of me. I'm just as lonely here as I was before, but with less respect because they're convinced that you've essentially trained me to be a civilized entity who performs on your command," Myrkr muttered.

The older woman put her hand over her heart. "I didn't realize you felt that way."

"I tried not to think about it too much because I wasn't ever supposed to be more than some orphen runt, sacrificed to win back the Casket, but things have changed. There is more to me now than when I was given to you," the Jotun woman stated firmly.

The way that her daughter-in-law said 'given to you' really struck Frigga. She had used the phrase herself, but there was such an air of shame to it this time. She could finally really see that the woman standing before her felt like she was being treated like an exotic pet rather than a person.

"Look," Myrkr sighed, one last plea to make. "You love Loki, right? He's your son, and I've seen how he takes after you," she asserted.

Frigga glared a little again. "He's the one I always worried for," she confessed.

"You want him to feel good about himself, about what he really is, right?" she tried. "I know you and the Allfather did the very best you could, but the mothers of this world still tell their children scary bedtime stories about my people. He needs this, and he needs it in a venue that isn't going to be judging him for how readily he embraces it."

The blonde woman glared sternly across the room. "Alright," she muttered. "How about this? As his mother, I approve of your gift to my son and hope desperately that you dress more modestly than you are now when you give it to him. If you refuse to present it in public, then as your Queen, I demand that you provide a second present to be delivered at the prince's name day feast, and it better be good," she informed.

Myrkr tried not to smile. "Thank you, Your Grace," she curtsied, something she had spent a significant amount of time practicing, and it paid off.

Frigga shook her head. "Come on, let's go see what Thor's got planned. If no one bothers him about it, he's more than likely to forget," she said as she moved back out of the little room.

"I believe that he and Lady Sif are making a cooperative effort this year," she said as she closed the door behind them and matched pace with the other woman until she was just half a step behind her, careful not to push her luck by walking side by side with the older woman.

"Yes, they've been quite cooperative of late, haven't they?" she rolled her eyes.


	34. Name Day

Myrkr woke early on the day of the Autumnal Equinox. There was a lot she needed to get done that day, but there was no way she was getting out of bed before Loki was even awake. This day was his, and she was going to do everything in her power to make sure it went well.

It was funny, she thought as she studied her husband's sleeping form. She had come to understand Loki's love-hate relationship with being in the spotlight. There were moments when he was jealous of Thor for being what he so lovingly referred to as an 'attention sponge'. People paid attention to him and gave him things simply for being him. Sometimes, he wondered if Thor even noticed anymore. It sparked a very basic sort of loving jealousy that was very common among the second sons of Asgard. Loki loved his older brother dearly, but there were times when he questioned whether the adoration Thor received wasn't unwarranted.

By contrast, Loki was actually very uncomfortable in the limelight if it lasted for too long. It was more difficult for him to collect his thoughts, people told him very stupid stories, and it was harder to make mischief. He liked the attention, but only for a time. He would inevitably grow weary of the constant barrage of noise and expectations and return to a more cerebral existence.

Loki woke up a short time later to the soothing feeling Myrkr's fingers on his skin. "You're up early," he mused as he stretched.

She held him tightly while his body flexed, coaxing the lethargy of sleep from his limbs. She loved the feeling of his firm muscles and subtle curves. "Today is special."

The prince smiled. "My name day. You seem much more interested this year," he mused.

"What's everyone getting you?" she asked curiously. The year before, as they dressed for the banquet, Loki bragged that he already knew every present he would receive, and had been about ninety percent accurate. It seemed to be a sort of game for him, like the finding out before was the real gift for him and the presented item was merely a catalyst for that amusement.

"I think you already know most of them," he teased.

"I didn't plan to. People just seemed to feel the need to tell me what they got for you, like they're looking for my approval," she scoffed. "Which is funny because I have to run my gift by your mother to see if it's good enough for the lovely Prince Loki."

Loki laughed a little at her mocking tone. "I know," he nodded. "So, all I have to do," he said as he tilted his head to speak in a low, quiet voice into her ear, "is ask you nicely, and you'll tell me, right?"

Myrkr rolled her eyes. "Like you don't know."

The prince smiled happily. "Every year until this one, I had to find out on my own from this and that person what my name day gifts would be. It is something of a tradition for me to figure out as many as I can before they are gifted to me. Now you're here, and you know everything. I don't have to search, I can just," he crooned as he slowly pulled her closer, "ask nicely."

Myrkr squirmed a bit. "I won't ruin your surprises. People work hard to find good things to give you. Maybe you should try being surprised?" she tried.

He hadn't thought he would have to pry the information out of her, but it was starting to look that way. "I'm surprised that you won't just tell me," he petulantly complained.

"How many do you know already?" she dodged.

"I've heard a few things here and there, but as I said, I had been relying on you to win this round for me," he replied.

Myrkr smirked. She had been worried that he had somehow heard about what she was planning for him. If he hadn't been asking around, then there was a good chance that her surprise could remain a surprise, as well as several others. So, instead of talking about it anymore, she pounced on him and threw back the covers. He was about to speak again when she ducked down and started licking his half-hard cock.

Loki groaned and shuddered. Being orally serviced by her, especially first thing in the morning, was his ultimate weakness. "D-Darling, that's not fair," he complained half-heartedly.

She didn't reply, just kept at what she was doing until he came hard in her mouth. After swallowing, she sat back up, blew him a kiss, and hopped out of bed.

"Now wait just a minute!" he lazily called after her.

"I am very sorry, but there is so much to do today that I can't linger with you this morning," she playfully taunted as she ducked into the closet.

When she emerged a short time later dressed and with her hair tied up, he sat up to look at her. "You are not dressed like you are celebrating your royal husband's name day," he sniped bitterly, though much of the bitterness was contrived because of how sated he was.

"You don't know that," she replied with a wink. "I would like to have lunch with you today, if you're not busy. It will probably be the only time we get just for us," she requested hopefully.

"Only if you dress better than that. Seriously, my love, why are you wearing that?" he motioned to her clothes, critically eyeing the decidedly un-regal dress she had on.

She gave him a funny little smile. "You've never been so critical of what I choose to wear," she said. He had helped coach her on Asgardian fashion from time to time, but more often than not, he encouraged her to wear whatever she wanted.

"It's my name day. Please wear something nicer," he entreated, giving her a pleading look.

Myrkr sighed softly. "Though it is an inconvenience for me, I will change my clothes," she conceded as she ducked back into the wardrobe.

Loki hopped off the bed to follow her. "You never wear this ugly dress anyway. What would possess you to wear it today of all days?" he half-teased as she handed it to him to hang back up. That dress was actually one that they had spent more than one occasion making fun of. Not only was it an unattractive garment to begin with, but it was also utterly unflattering to her in every way. He stuffed it in the back of her wardrobe in the hope of never seeing it again.

She shook her head. "I have a couple of things to do today, and I didn't want to risk dirtying one of my nicer dresses. I had been planning to change before anything important happened."

"This whole day is important," he boasted, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her in for an affectionate embrace while she was only half dressed. "And what kind of dirty work do you need to be doing?"

Myrkr smirked. "I can't say."

Loki held her tighter, sinking his fingers into her hips. "Tell me," he urged in a low, seductive voice. He kept eye contact with her the whole time.

She almost caved. "You will find out soon enough. You are so impatient," she playfully scolded as she pushed him away and finished putting on her dress. This one was remarkably nicer than the last, though not as glamorous as the one she would be wearing later at his feast, and one of his more subtle favorites for her. The earthy green was one of the few colors that blended well with her skin tone and the little pearl accents brought attention to some of her more flattering features. "There. Is this better?" she asked with mock impatience.

Loki growled with irritation. He knew how hard it was for her to keep secrets from him, but he could also see how much she was enjoying it this time. Without thinking, he pulled her down to the floor and pushed up her dress. He tickled her until she couldn't breathe anymore, until she passed the point of begging him to stop and was lightheaded with oxygen loss. Then, he pinned her to the ground and leered down at her. "Tell me," he urged.

Myrkr tried to roll her eyes but was too busy catching her breath. "Now my hair's a mess!" she complained. "And get off me, I'm not going to tell."

The prince's eyes narrowed. "This is not an argument you will win, my dear. If you really do have matters that require your attention, I suggest you speak quickly so that you might go about them while you still have time because interrogating you is something I could do all day."

When he saw that threat wasn't immediately effective, his fingers started to brush some of her weaker spots, making her give a little mewl of pleasure.

"Please don't make me say," she half-heartedly protested. She wanted to sound firmer, but he knew her body too well to be able to ignore what he was doing.

Loki grinned and leaned down, nipping at her earlobe before saying, "You will tell me everything even if it takes all day and into the night. I would forego every other festivity for this," he told her seriously.

Her body arched into him without her permission. "I promised," she complained. "If I can't keep simple secrets such as these then how are people to trust me with more dire matters?"

He growled against the side of her neck, making her shudder uncontrollably. "The promises you make to me are more important than that, aren't they? You've promised to keep nothing from me, not even the simplest, littlest things," he reminded.

Myrkr had her hands tangled in his hair before she realized she was pulling him away. With all the strength she could muster, she managed to pull him away from her neck and roll them over so that she was pinning him to the dressing room floor. Since the weather had started to cool down, much of her strength had returned. "Every promise is important," she asserted. "I'm sorry if you truly feel slighted, but I'm not going to be the one who ruins your surprises." Then, she was gone. She rushed off to the nearest washroom to fix her hair again before going about her business, hopeful that he would not ambush her while she was out and about.

That was not how Loki'd been hoping to start his name day. For the first time he was actually very upset with his wife. He wouldn't go so far as to say that she had no right to refuse him like that, but he was definitely unhappy about the whole situation. With a grumble, he got dressed and went about trying to figure out what she was up to.

Because he was so upset, he kept his distance while he watched his wife and his mother make sure everything would be perfect for his feast later that day. He didn't bother her except to make sure she was aware that he was stalking her. At one point, he overheard the following conversation.

"Are you alright? You seem disproportionately nervous," Frigga asked as they were overseeing the setup of the dining hall.

Myrkr shook her head in exasperation. "I'm fine. Loki was expecting me to tell him what his name day gifts were."

Frigga cocked a curious eyebrow. "Oh? And did you tell him?" she neutrally inquired. She fully expected her son to know nearly every gift he would receive on any occasion in advance.

"No," she muttered. "And he was very upset."

"Why not tell him? You should know by now how he hates surprises." She smirked. "He likes surprising others but not the other way around. It used to bother me too, but I've learned to accept it as part of who he is."

"That's not the tradition," she weakly protested.

"It's his tradition to know before hand," Frigga pointed out.

Myrkr frowned and looked away.

Loki silently wondered if his wife would tell his mother that he had tried to coerce her into telling him and what sort of reaction that would get. It has been quite some time since his mother was angry with him, even longer since it was on his name day.

"I'm afraid if I tell him the gifts of others, he will expect to know mine as well," Myrkr admitted quietly.

Frigga gave her daughter-in-law a sidelong glance. She gave some of the servants a few more directions before saying, "Speaking of which, you never told me what you're presenting to him at the feast," she said, her irritation thinly veiled. "Unless, you've changed your mind?" she hopefully pressed.

Myrkr successfully kept from rolling her eyes or sighing with irritation. "No, I haven't changed my mind, and you've already approved of similar gifts in the past, so I didn't think it necessary to show you first," she managed.

The Queen gave a few more instructions before returning to the other woman's side once again. "Because we are both rather busy today, I will let this go. If it doesn't go over well, at least I'll be able to distance myself from it," she sighed.

"Thank you," she said with a little bow.

"Now, you should run along," Frigga dismissed.

"Yes, Your Highness," Myrkr replied with courtesy and left. She finished the remainder of her morning duties with ease and was back to their room before Loki. When he entered, she was very intently writing something.

"What's this?" he asked as he moved up behind her, massaging her shoulders as he leered over her to see what she was doing.

She smiled to herself and finished what she was doing with a pointed flick of her quill. She took a second to gently blow the ink dry before handing it to her husband. "These are the gifts you're getting from everyone. I hope you're not too disappointed."

He eyed her carefully before taking the seat across from her to read the list while their lunch was delivered. "Why would I be disappointed when you finally did what I insisted upon earlier today?" he chided.

She shrugged. "With the way you were following me, I thought you would be looking forward to trying to pry it out of me." She sighed. "That does sound like a fun game, but for another time, perhaps?" she proposed.

Loki chuckled. "You can count on it. You can be very stubborn when you want to be, and I do love that about you," he teased.

As they ate, he looked over the list. "There seems to be something missing."

"Oh? I don't know what your parents are getting for you. I'm sorry," she tried.

"Not their gift. Yours. What are you getting for me?" he pressed hopefully.

She gave him a pleading look. "Please," she said earnestly. It had worked with his mother, and she hoped it would work on him as well.

"Even Mother doesn't know, and you're supposed to tell her," he chided.

Myrkr pursed her lips and looked away. "I need this to be a surprise."

He looked perplexed by that. "Whyever for?"

"I've never done anything like this before. I want to succeed. Please don't make me fail. I know you could make me tell you, if you really wanted to. I gave you everything else. Can my gift please be a surprise to you?"

Loki considered her for a moment as he folded up the paper, setting it aside. "What was my mother hoping you'd changed your mind about?" he tried.

She gave a self-conscious little smile. "Actually," she said quietly. "I have two gifts for you. Your mother and I had different opinions about one of them, so I had to find another."

That piqued his curiosity more than anything else. He leaned forward with a smile. "You have a gift for me that my mother doesn't approve of," he said hopefully.

Myrkr shifted uncomfortably. "Not exactly," she said as she stood. "I need to go. I'll see you later," she said, turning to quickly leave the room. She made it far enough to put her hand on the knob before he caught up with her.

When he did, he was surprised to find the slightest trace of fear in her eyes. He could tell she wasn't really scared of him, but she was worried, and that made him uncomfortable so he let go of her arm. "I'll stop asking," he said softly. "Thank you for the list," he added with an impish grin.

She relaxed significantly and turned to hug him.

"Why is the surprise so important to you? You're not letting anyone down if you tell me. I'm going to find out anyway," he asked as he pet her hair.

She smiled into his chest. "I have two very special things to give you. To tell you about them beforehand, I think that would ruin it. I will tell you this. You will receive my first gift at the feast when you get the others. The second I will deliver later," she tried.

Loki's smile grew. "Alright," he nodded.

He let her go after that so that they could both socialize and tend to other duties before the feast. They met up about an hour before they were to walk to the banquet hall so that they could get ready to present themselves to the crowd.

That evening Loki was given his gifts between dinner and dessert. He was pleased to find that while his wife's list of presents wasn't one hundred percent accurate, she had done better than his average. Most of the things he was given were fairly average as far as he was concerned. He was given books, jewels, and a fair variety of interesting trinkets. He acted appropriately surprised and pleased by each item, though in spite of himself, he couldn't help genuinely smiling at the New Mexican snowglobe that Sif and Thor gave him. Even though it was by far the cheapest thing he'd been given, it was also the most meaningful until it was Myrkr's turn.

She carefully handed him a little box that was cold to the touch, a cautious smile on her lips as he opened it to find a perfectly round ice crystal inside. When he reached to pick it up, she quickly placed her hand on his. "Use caution. This crystal will freeze your fair, Asgardian skin," she warned.

He nodded and held it up to look at it better that way instead.

"It's quite beautiful," Frigga commented. "But what is it?" she asked hopefully.

Myrkr gave a sheepish little smile. "It's a crystal from the heart of Jotunheim. It was given to me before I came here so that I could always have a piece of my home with me."

Loki looked perplexed. "You never mentioned this before," he said, obviously unnerved that she'd been keeping things from him.

"I stowed it in a safe place as soon as we moved into our quarters and haven't touched again until today. It means a lot to me, but I also feel that I could not be at home without you, so I want you to have it so that the two things I love the most can be together," she said as surely as she could.

Suddenly, there was a great round of applause and cheering for her and before she could process that, Loki had closed the box and was pulling her into a tight embrace.

"This is magnificent," he told her. "Thank you."

Things settled down as dessert was served and since Myrkr wasn't inclined to partake of the massive chocolate cake, the other guests felt free to chat her up while they ate.

"It's been sitting in Asgard for over a year, and it's still frozen," Thor marveled when he was finally afforded a look at the perfectly clear blue crystal.

"Of course not. It won't ever melt," she dismissed.

"Unlike my lady's heart," Loki joked, making Myrkr blush and earning a round of pleased noises from the others who heard him.

"It's a stone, not ice," she corrected once she regained her composure.

"Does magic keep it cold?" Frigga asked curiously.

"I never bothered to check. I always just accepted that as part of its nature," she replied.

"How rare is a stone like this?" the Allfather inquired curiously.

"Extremely. They are only given to those who leave Jotunheim. Since the war, I am one of only a few who has left home for any extended period," she carefully replied. "It is priceless."

"To be sure," Loki nodded assuredly.

When the feast was over, the couple adjourned to their quarters, a small procession of servants following them with his haul of gifts. Once they were finally alone, Loki locked the door and once again took out the stone gifted to him by his wife.

"I was worried it would trigger your transformation if you touched it," she said when she saw him reach for it. "If it is magic, it is very strong. I wasn't sure if you could maintain-" she continued but once he touched it, he gave a soft sigh that stole her words.

Loki let the Jotun transformation wash over him as he held the round jewel tightly in his hand. It's icy cold felt so good, so right, that he didn't think twice before grabbing his wife and pulling her in for an intimate embrace.

"It's called a heart stone," she said quietly as she watched him roll it between his fingers.

Loki smiled and held it to his heart, feeling a strange sort of trepidation as he did so. It made him feel good but also like it was pulling him away from the things he knew. Before that feeling could become too overwhelming, he pulled it away and kissed Myrkr.

"Why did you keep this thing a secret from me? Was it always your intention to gift it to me?" he questioned as he put it back in the box and started looking for a good place to keep it.

"I kept it a secret at first because I was unsure of how you or anyone else would react to it. I was worried someone might think it was a weapon, since it could very easily injure an Asgardian, or take it from me for whatever reason. I couldn't bear to part with it, so I kept it hidden. As we grew closer, I felt the need for it lessen. In truth, there were times when I'd almost forgotten about it," she confessed.

Loki nodded and determined that his bedside stand was the best place for the stone for the time being. "Now," he said rubbing his hands together. "You have another gift for me."

His eagerness made her smile. "Yes. I'd like to change into something more comfortable first. While I do, go to the performance hall in the North wing of the castle. I will be along shortly to give you your other gift," she promised.

Loki was once again perplexed. He had been expecting some kind of sexy Jotun surprise. Now it sounded like she'd had some kind of show put together for him. He tried not to be disappointed as he agreed and did as she asked.

When he got to the hall, he found it empty and almost completely iced over. He walked up onto the stage and started to examine the slick floor and intricate designs along the sides and back. Just as he reached out to touch the strange sculpture along the back wall, someone spoke.

"I'm not sure you should be touching things," Frigga said, a touch of amusement in her voice.

"Mother?" Loki questioned as he turned to see her standing a few feet away in a warm coat.

"Did she tell you what she's planning?" she asked curiously.

The son sighed and shook his head. "After your talk with her earlier, she told me everyone's gifts but her own. She was very insistent that I be surprised by at least her," he mused.

Frigga smiled and pulled her son in for a warm embrace. "She is a very special woman," she said as she led him back to the audience seating.

"Of that, I am sure," he chuckled.

"I mean it. She isn't the meek little thing that we once knew. She's grown significantly and thanks in no small part to you," she told him seriously, having him sit in the front center seat.

"Of course," he dismissed. "What's all this about?"

His mother's smile didn't wane. "I wanted her to give you this gift in front of everyone, but she refused," she lamented.

Loki cocked an eyebrow. "She never refuses you."

"She does now, but I understand why," she sighed. "She'll be along any minute. I should be going."

"Mother," he called as she turned to leave.

"Yes?" she warmly prompted.

Loki paused. "Is this the gift that you wanted her to change her mind about?"

Frigga nodded. "But if push came to shove, I would have to admit that I'm glad she didn't." She turned to leave again, but hesitated. "Loki," she said cautiously.

"Hm?" he prompted, still distracted by what she'd just said.

"Your father, brother, and I would like to watch what happens here. I know you aren't exactly aware of what your wife has planned, but would it be alright with you if we observed from the far balcony?" she asked.

Because he didn't know what was about to happen, he hesitated. "That would be fine. I trust your discretion."


End file.
